Explanation of Nawawi's Forty Hadith

Explanation of Imâm an-Nawawî's

Forty Hadîth Ibn Daqîq al-'îd's explanation of the famous 40 hadith collected by Imâm an-Nawawî

Introduction to the Collection of Forty Hadeeth

by Imâm an-Nawawî (d. 676 AH / 1299 CE)

All Praise is due to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds, the [One Who] Sustains the Heavens and

Earths, Director of all that is created, who sent the Messengers (may the peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon all of them) to rational beings, to guide them and explain the religious

laws to them with clear proofs and undeniable arguments. I praise Him for all of His

bounties. I ask Him to increase His grace and generosity. I bear witness that there is none

worthy of worship except Allaah alone, who has no partner, the One, Who Subdues, the

Generous, the Forgiving. I bear witness that our leader Muhammad is His servant and

Messenger, His beloved and dear one, the best of all creation. He was honoured with the

Glorious Qur'aan that has been an enduring miracle throughout the years. He was also sent

with his guiding Sunnah that shows the way for those who seek guidance. Our leader

Muhammad has been particularized with the characteristic of eloquent and pithy speech, and

simplicity and ease in the religion. May the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, the

other Prophets and Messengers, all of their families and the rest of the righteous.

To proceed :

We have narrated, through many chains (isnaad, pl. asaaneed) and various narrations, from

Ali ibn Abee Taalib, Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood, Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, Abu ad-Dardaa,

[Abdullaah] ibn 'Umar, [Abdullaah] ibn 'Abbaas, Anas ibn Maalik, Abu Hurairah and Abu

Sa'eed al-Khudree - May Allaah be pleased with all of them - that the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Whoever preserves for my Ummah forty hadeeth

related to the religion, Allaah will then resurrect him in the company of the pious and the

scholars." Another narration states : "Allaah will raise him as an erudite and learned

scholar". In the narration from Abu ad-Dardaa, it is stated : "On the Day of Resurrection, I

will be an intercessor and witness for him". In the narration from Ibn Mas'ood it is stated

that the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "It will be said to him 'Enter Paradise

through any door you wish'". In the narration from ibn 'Umar, one finds the words : "He will

be recorded among the company of the scholars and will be resurrected in the company of

http://islaam.net/main/display.php?category=24

http://islaam.net/main/display.php?category=24

the martyrs". [However] The scholars of hadeeth agree that, although this hadeeth has

numerous chains, it is weak [ie. da'eef, and hence cannot be used as a sharee'ah proof].

The scholars (may Allaah be pleased with them) have compiled innumerable works of this

nature [ie. collections of forty hadeeth]. The first one that I know of who compiled such a

work was Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak [a taabi'ee, rahimahu Allaah]. After him came ibn

Aslam at-Toosee, a pious scholar. Then came al-Hasan ibn Sufyaan an-Nasaa'ee, Abu Bakr

al-Aajurree, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem al-Asfahaanee, ad-Daaraqutnee, al-

Haakim, Abu Nu'aim, Abu Abd-ir-Rahmaan as-Sulamee, Abu Sa'eed al-Maleenee, Abu

'Uthmaan as-Saaboonee, Abdullaah ibn Muhammad al-Ansaaree, Abu Bakr al-Baihaqee and

countless others both from the earlier and later times.

I have turned to Allaah for guidance and prayed to Him while compiling these forty hadeeth,

following the example of those Imaams and guardians of Islaam. The scholars have agreed

that it is permissible to act in accordance with weak hadeeth that deal with the virtues of

good deeds [ie not weak hadeeth that deal with rulings - ahkaam - or acts of worship].

Nonetheless, given that fact, I have not simply relied upon that [weak] hadeeth [mentioned

above], in compiling this work. Instead, I am following the statement of the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) found in an authentic hadeeth : "Let him who was present

among you inform those who are absent". The Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) also

said : "May Allaah make radiant the man who has heard what I said, preserved it in his

memory and conveyed it in the way that he heard it".

[Note : What an-Nawawi is saying here is that many of the scholars before him have made

collections of forty hadeeth, and hence he is following their good example and not simply

following the weak hadeeth quoted above, thus showing that he considers it improper to

base ones actions upon weak hadeeth alone.]

Scholars have compiled forty hadeeth on faith and belief (usool), on practical matters

(furoo'), on jihaad, on austerity (zuhd), on etiquette (adaab), and even on sermons

(khutbahs). All of these [collections] were concerning righteous aims. May Allaah be

pleased with those who sought them. However I have found it best to collect together forty

hadeeth which are more important than all of those. These forty hadeeth incorporate all of

those separate topics. In fact, each hadeeth is by itself a great general precept from the

foundations of the Religion. Some scholars state that all of Islaam revolves around these

hadeeth. Some have said, about a particular hadeeth, that they are one-half of Islaam, one-

third of Islaam and so forth.

I have committed myself to including only authentic hadeeth (saheeh or hasan) in these forty

hadeeth. The majority of them are from Saheeh al-Bukhaaree or Saheeh Muslim. I have

mentioned them without their chain of narrators in order for it to be easier to memorize them

and thus more [people] will be able to benefit from them, Allaah willing. After the hadeeth,

I included a section on the meanings of the obscure expressions found in the hadeeth.

Everyone who desires and looks forward to the Hereafter must be familiar with these

hadeeth because they cover the most important aspects of the religion and offer

direction to all forms of obedience of Allaah. This is clear to anyone who ponders these

hadeeth.

I rely only upon Allaah and I entrust my affair only to Him. To Him is all Praise and Grace,

from Him is Guidance and protection from error.

Hadeeth 1: Actions are but by Intentions

عؼذ سعي هللا ص : ػ أـ١ـش اؤـ١ أث ؽـفص ػش ث اخطبة سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

: هللا ػـ١ ع ٠ـمـي

ف وـبذ غشر إ هللا سعـ . إـب األػــبي ثب١بد إــب ىـ اـشا ب ـ )

فغشرـ إ هللا سعـ وبذ غشر ـذ١ب ٠صـ١جب أ اشأح ٠ىؾب فغشر إ ب بعش

. (إ١

سا إب اؾذ ص١ أثـ ػـجـذ هللا دمحم ث إعبػـ١ ث اثشاـ١ـ ث اغـ١ش ث ثـشد صث اجخبس

سل ]اثـ اؾغـ١ـ غ ث اؾغبط ث ـغ امـشـ١ش اـ١غـبثـس [1:سل]اغؼـف،

.سظ هللا ػب ف صؾ١ؾ١ب از٠ ب أصؼ اىزت اصف [1907:

On the authority of Ameer ul-Mu'mineen (the Commander of the Faithful), Aboo Hafs

Ùmar ibn al-Khattaab radiAllaahu anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam say:

"Actions are but by intentions and every man shall have only that which he intended.

Thus he whose migration (Hijrah to Madeenah from Makkah) was for Allaah and His

Messenger, his migration was for Allaah and His Messenger, and he whose migration

was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his

migration was for that for which he migrated."

It is related by the two Imaams of the scholars of Hadeeth, Aboo Àbdillaah Muhammad ibn

Ismaaèel ibn Ibraheem ibn al-Mugheera ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhaaree and Aboo-l-Husain

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj ibn Muslim al-Qushairee an-Naisaabooree, in their two Saheehs,

which are the soundest of compiled books [i.e. the most truthful books after the Book of

Allaah, since the Qur'aan is not 'compiled'].

Explanation of Hadeeth 1

This is a saheeh hadeeth that has been agreed upon by the scholars, and is collected in both

the collections of al-Bukhaaree (Hadeeth No. 1) and Muslim (Hadeeth No. 1907). This

hadeeth is great in its benefit and importance, and it has been said that the religion of al-

Islaam revolves around it. Some of the scholars have said that it is 1/3rd of Knowledge,

because the actions of man involve his heart, his tongue and his limbs, and hence the

intention in the heart is 1/3rd of that. Other scholars have said that the whole religion is

encompassed in three hadeeth - this one, the hadeeth "The Halaal is clear, the Haraam is

clear and between them are doubtful matters...", and the hadeeth "Whoever innovates in this

religion that which is not from it will have his actions rejected [by Allaah]". [Note: These

other hadeeth will be covered later in shaa' Allaah]

Some of the scholars have said that this hadeeth should be mentioned at the beginning of

every book, in order to establish that the seeking of knowledge is for the sake of Allaah

alone, and not for anyone else.

In the hadeeth, when the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) says "actions are

but by intention" then the 'by' here means that the acceptance and correctness of any action

depends upon the intention behind it. An action which is apparently good, such as giving

money in charity, will be rejected if the intention behind it is wrong, for example: to show

off. Indeed, the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has narrated from Allaah that if a

person performs an act for Allaah's sake and also for the sake of someone else, then Allaah

will reject the deed entirely and leave the whole of it for the partner that the person made.

This shows us how grave the sin of shirk is - it is the only sin that Allaah will never forgive.

In the hadeeth, the words "shall have" means that the person will be rewarded for only that

which he intended. So, as mentioned in the hadeeth, if a person performed the Hijrah, but

did it with the wrong intention then he would not be rewarded for that action of Hijrah.

The word "actions" refers to those actions which are part of the Sharee'ah of Islaam. Thus,

any action of the Sharee'ah - such as making wudoo', or ghusl, or making tayammum, or the

prayer, or zakaat, or fasting, or the Hajj, or i'tikaaf in the masjid, or any other act of worship

- will not be accepted and rewarded unless it is performed with the correct intention.

Summary

Everything we do has to be intended to be for Allaah, i.e., for anything we do we want to

make sure that it will be acceptable to Him and will not in any way interfere with the

upholding of His Deen. A good action with the wrong intention will not get us any reward in

the Hereafter.

Hadeeth 2: An Explanation of Islaam, Eemaan and

Ihsaan

ث١ب ؾ عط ػـذ سعـي هللا ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص راد ٠ ار غغ ػ١ب : ػ ػش سظ هللا ػ أ٠عب ، لبي

ؽز . سع شذ٠ذ ث١بض اض١بة ، شذ٠ذ عاد اشؼش ال ٠ش ػ١ أصـش اغفش ال ٠ؼـشف ب اؽـذ

: عــظ إ اج ص هللا ػ١ ع فـأعذ سوجـز١ إ سوجزـ١ ظغ وف١ ػ فخز٠، لـبي

". ٠ب دمحم أخجش ػ اإلعال "

اإلعـال أ رـشــذ أ ال إـ إال هللا أ ؾــذ ):فمـبي سعـي هللا صـ هللا ػـ١ عــ

سعـي هللا رـمـ١ـ اصالح رـؤر اـضوبح رـص سعب رـؾـظ اج١ذ إ اعـزـطـؼذ ا١

. (عج١ال

. صذلذ: لبي

فؼغجب ، ٠غأ ٠صذل ؟

. فأخجش ػ اإل٠ب : لبي

. أ رؤ ثبهلل الئىز وزج سع ا١ االخش رؤ ثبمذس خ١ش شش : لبي

. صذلذ : لبي

. فأخجش ػ اإلؽغب : لبي

. ا رؼجذ هللا وأه رشا ، فئ رى رشا فئ ٠شان : لبي

. فأخجش ػ اغبػخ : لبي

" ب اغؤي ػب ثأػ اغبئ : "لبي

. فأخجش ػ أبسارب : لبي

" أ رذ األ سثزب ، ا رش اؾفبح اؼشاح اؼبخ سػبء اشبء ٠زطب ف اج١ب: " لبي

" ٠ب ػش أرذس اغبئ ؟:" ص اطك ، فجضذ ١ب ،ص لبي

". هللا سع أػ : "لذ

[8: سل ]سا غ "فئ عجش٠ ، اربو ٠ؼى د٠ى : لبي

Also on the authority of `Umar (radi Allaahu 'anhu), who said:

One day while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) there appeared before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and

whose hair was exceedingly black; no signs of journey were to be seen on him and

none of us knew him. He walked up and sat down in front of the Prophet (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam), with his knees touching against the Prophet's (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) and placing the palms of his hands on his thighs he said: “O Muhammad, tell

me about Islaam.”

The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Islaam is to testify that

there is no deity worthy of worship but Allaah and Muhammad is the Messenger of

Allaah, to perform prayers, to give zakaah, to fast in Ramadaan, and to make the

pilgrimage to the House if you are able to do so.”

He said: “You have spoken rightly”; and we were amazed at him asking him and

saying that he had spoken rightly.

He (the man) said: “Tell me about Eemaan.”

He (the Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “It is to believe in Allaah, His

Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny

(qadr), both the good and the evil of it.”

He said: “You have spoken rightly.”

He (the man) said: “Then tell me about Ihsaan.”

He (the Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “It is to worship Allaah as though

you see Him, and if you do not see Him, then (knowing that) truly He sees you.”

He said: “Then tell me about the Hour.”

He said: “The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.”

He said: “Then tell me about its signs.”

He said: “That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, and that you will see

barefooted, naked destitute shepherds competing in constructing lofty buildings.”

Then he (the man) left, and I stayed for a time. The he (the Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) said: “O `Umar, do you know who the questioner was?”

I said: “Allaah and His Messenger know best.”

He said: “It was Jibreel, who came to teach you your religion.”

It was related by Muslim.


This is no doubt a great hadeeth, in that it includes within it all the outwardly apparent and

inwardly actions, and all the Sciences of the Sharee'ah return back towards it due to its

encompassing all the Knowledge of the Sunnah. Hence some of the scholars have termed

this hadeeth the Mother/Core of the Sunnah (Umm as-Sunnah), just as soorah al-Faatihah

has been termed the Mother/Core of the Qur'aan (Umm al-Qur'aan), due to its succintly

containing all of the Message of the Qur'aan.

And in this hadeeth (from the mention of the white dress and black hair) is evidence for the

beautification of ones appearance when entering upon the scholars, the pious and the kings,

as Jibreel (alayhi as-salaam) came to teach the people by his appearance, his statements and

his actions.

The fact that the 'man' had no sign of travel upon him, and yet no one had ever seen him

before surprised the Sahaabah, as if he did not live amongst them then how did he just

appear from 'nowhere'. In this way, Jibreel (alayhi as-salaam) was able to attract their

attention to what he was to say next. His statement 'O Muhammad' rather than the respectful

'O Messenger of Allaah' that was obligatory upon the Sahaabah, also helped to attain the full

attention of the Sahaabah.

His questions regarding Islaam, Eemaan and Ihsaan show us that these are three distinct

levels, with the level of Ihsaan being the highest. It is important to note here that these terms

when used together indicate specific meanings, whereas when used on their own they may

encompass the meanings of the other terms. What this means will be explained in more

detail below in shaa' Allaah.

The term 'Islaam' in its specific meaning refers to the outwardly apparent actions - such as

the Shahaadah, the Prayer, paying the Zakaat etc. If a person has the basic amount of

eemaan required of him and then performs these major outward actions then he is at the

level of 'Islaam'.

The term 'Eemaan' in its specific meaning refers to the inward beliefs of the heart, and for a

person to enter the fold of Islaam he must adhere to the basic beliefs mentioned in this

hadeeth. However, in a more general sense the word Eemaan denotes the beliefs and actions

in the heart (eg aqeedah and fear of Allaah), the statements of the tongue (e.g. dhikr of

Allaah) and actions of the limbs (e.g. fighting jihaad in Allaah's cause). If a person achieves

the basic outward actions of Islaam, and then increases upon that in terms of his belief and

his other actions, then he rises to the level of Eemaan.

Having eemaan in Allaah means the attestation that Allaah - Glory be to Him - exists, and is

described with the Lofty and Perfect Attributes, and is free from all deficient characteristics.

And it includes the belief that He is One, The Truth, The Independent, and He is the Only

Creator of all that exists, and He changes the creation as He wishes and He acts within His

Kingdom whatever He wishes.

And eemaan in the Angels means attesting that they are His honoured slaves, and that they

do not act except according to Allaah's command.

And eemaan in the Messengers involves attesting that they are Truthful in all that they have

conveyed about Allaah, and that they were aided by Allaah in the miracles that they

performed to prove their truthfulness, and that they conveyed and explained the Message of

what Allaah has ordered us with. Also, we must respect and honour them all, and we must

not differentiate between them.

And eemaan in the Last Day involves the attestation that we shall be brought back to life

again after our death, and shall be collected together on the Day of Judgement, and on that

Day will be the Accounting of our deeds, and the weighing in the Meezaan (Scales), and the

crossing of the Siraat (Bridge), and finally the entry to either Paradise or Hellfire. And the

belief that Paradise is the place for rewarding the doers of good, while Hellfire is the place

for retribution for the doers of evil.

And eemaan in Qadr (Divine Preordainment) includes the belief that Allaah knows all that

has happened and all that will happen, and that He has written this down in the Protected

Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfooz) which is with Him, and that nothing can happen except by

Allaah's Will and Permission.

And the way of the Salaf and the Imaams of the later times has been that whomsoever attests

to and believes in these matters with a firm conviction having no doubt in them, then he will

be counted amongst true Believers, whether he arrived at these beliefs through detailed

study of the intellectual proofs or not.

The term 'Ihsaan' refers to the third and highest level, and is attained as mentioned in the

hadeeth when the person worships Allaah as though he sees Him, and if he does not see

Allaah, then he worships Him knowing that Allaah sees him. The scholars have mentioned

that the higher level of worshipping Allaah as though one sees him is the level of

mushaahadah. This implies that the person worships Allaah seeing the effect of Allaah's

Names and Attributes in all the things around him. For example, when he sees mercy shown

by an animal to its young he sees this as the effect of the Mercy of Allaah upon His

Creation, and so on and so forth. Thus whatever the slave sees around him he is reminded of

the Perfect Attributes of Allaah 'azza wa jall. It does not mean that the slave sees Allaah

with his eyes, as this ru'yaa (Seeing) is only for the Believers on the Day of Resurrection.

The second and lower level of Ihsaan is where the slave is constantly aware of Allaah

watching him at all times.

The statement of the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) that "the one questioned knows

no better than the questioner" shows that even the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam had

no knowledge of when the Last Hour shall be. This knowledge is with Allaah, and Allaah

alone. Regarding the Signs of the Day of Judgement, then two are mentioned in this hadeeth.

The first states that a slave-girl shall give birth to her master. Some of the scholars have

suggested that this could mean that the people will degenerate to the extent that they will sell

their women slaves, from whom they have already had children. These children may then

unwittingly buy their mothers as slaves, and thus become their masters. Others have

suggested that it means that children will become so bad mannered and insolent towards

their parents that they treat their parents as though they were their slaves - and this is what

we see in todays society.

The second sign is that the poor, destitute shepherds will compete with one another in

building tall buildings. We only have to look to the Arabian Peninsula to see how people

who were desert bedouins only a few decades ago are now literally competing with one

another in constructing lofty sky scrapers. And there are some ahaadeeth from the

Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam indicating that constructing tall buildings is hated,

if there is no genuine need for doing so.

So this hadeeth contains an explanation of Islaam, Eemaan and Ihsaan. It has been narrated

from the scholars of the past, such as Imaam Aboo al-Husain ibn Bataal al-Maalikee that

Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa'ah are united upon understanding Eemaan to consist of Beliefs,

Speech and Action, and that Eemaan increases with the obedience of Allaah and decreases

with His disobedience. This is contrary to the statement of some of the deviant sects that

Eemaan is fixed or constant, and a person either has it or does not. So different people have

different levels of Eemaan, and we are not all equal in this respect. Rather, we know from

the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam that the Eemaan of Abu Bakr

radiAllaahu anhu was greater than the eemaan of the rest of the people combined (excluding

Allaah's Messenger, of course).

And we also learn from this hadeeth that the person who attests to the shahaadataan and

displays the major outward aspects of Islaam is considered a Muslim, while the one who

goes further than that and increases in actions and beliefs is called a Mu'min. Thus the

Mu'min is at a higher station than the Muslim. And the one who achieves the level of Ihsaan

is the best of the three and is called a Muhsin - may Allaah 'azza wa jall make us of them.

Summary

That the Angel Jibreel himself came to teach the fundamentals of the Faith to the

Companions by asking questions to the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam).

That one can teach others by asking about that which he already knows.

That if someone wants to know about Islaam generally, then he should be made

aware of the pillars which constitute it.

That Islaam is built on the five pillars which have to be acted upon with eemaan and

ihsaan. Denying any one of these pillars and not wishing to fulfill any one of them

makes one a non-Muslim.

That belief in what Allaah has destined for us, whether it is perceived to be good, or

bad, is part of eemaan, and without believing in it, our eemaan is incomplete and

defective.

That one must accept the Messengers sent by Allaah.

That one must develop ihsaan in all that he does so that he is as much aware as he

can be that Allaah is indeed watching every move that he makes.

That as part of the Islaamic manner the teacher should be ready to accept and say

that he does not know the answer or that he does not know it better than the enquirer.

That the signs of the Last Hour are real and cocern how we live and behave.

That although the Companions were the best of the people and were the most

knowledgeable, they did not interrupt with their own answers, nor did they show

impatience at the questioner. Therefore as part of the Islaamic manners, if someone

asks a question to the teacher in a group, then the others in the group should keep

quiet until one of them is asked for help.

It is not permissible to say that there is a certain length of time left before the end of

the world, for none knows but Allaah, not even the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam).

Hadeeth 3: The Pillars of Islaam

عؼذ سعي هللا : ػ أث ػـجذ اشؽ ػجذ هللا ث ػـش ثـ اخطبة سظ هللا ػـب ، لـبي

شــبدح أ ال إـ إال هللا أ دمحم : ثـ اإلعـال ػ خــظ ):ص هللا ػ١ عـ ٠مـي

] سا اجخبس (سعي هللا ، إلبخ اصالح ، إ٠ـزـبء اـضوـبح ، ؽـظ اج١ذ ، صـ سعب

[16: سل ] غ [ 8: سل

On the authority of Aboo Àbd ir-Rahmaan Àbdullaah, the son of Ùmar ibn al-Khattab

radiAllaahu 'anhumaa, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) say:

Islaam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no deity worthy of

worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, establishing

the salaah (prayer), paying the zakaah (obligatory charity), making the Hajj

(pilgrimage) to the House, and fasting in Ramadaan. [related by al-Bukhaari and

Muslim]


Aboo al-'Abbaas al-Qurtubee (rahimahu Allaahu) has said that this hadeeth means that these

five matters are the foundation and basic principles upon which the religion of al-Islaam is

built. With these five matters does Islaam make itself apparent. And the Prophet sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam particularised these five matters and did not mention Jihaad along with

them (even though it is through Jihaad that Islaam is made uppermost and the resistance of

the Disbelievers is belittled) because these five matters are obligatory at all times upon all

Muslims, whereas Jihaad is a Fard Kifaayah which may not be required during certain times.

[Note: a Fard Kifaayah is an obligation that is required of the Muslims such that if a group

of them fulfill it then the obligation is lifted from the community as a whole].

And in some of the narrations of this hadeeth (such as the one quoted above), mention of the

Hajj is made before mention of the Fasting in Ramadaan. However, and Allaah knows best,

the correct form is the placing of the Fasting before the Hajj, as is narrated from Ibn 'Umar

that he corrected a narrator who changed the order and said "This is how I have heard it

from the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)". This incident shows us the

precision of the Sahaabah and the scholars of Hadeeth after them in preserving the words of

the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, and how can this not be when Allaah 'azza wa

jall has said:

"Verily We have sent down the Dhikr and We shall

preserve it"

and the Dhikr or Wahee sent down to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam includes

both the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, as Allaah has said:

"Nor does he speak of (his own) desire; It is only an

Inspiration that is inspired."

And it is also narrated from Ibn 'Umar radiAllaahu 'anhu that the Messenger sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam said:

"Islaam is built upon that you worship Allaah (alone) and disbelieve in (the worship

of) all that is other than Him, and the establishment of the Prayer, ...(till the end of the

hadeeth)"

And in the hadeeth occurs the phrase 'establishment' of the prayer (iqaam as-salaah), as

opposed to 'performance' of the prayer. The scholars have mentioned how this indicates that

the Prayer must be performed in the most perfect manner, after having completed the

wudoo' in the most perfect manner, and in the Masjid with the jamaa'ah for the men, and so

on and so forth. That is, simply performing the motions of the Prayer in the most minimal

fashion is not what is desired from us - but rather we should exert ourselves in this affair,

bearing in mind that the Prayer is the first matter that will be judged on the Day of

Resurrection - if it is accepted then the rest of our actions will be accepted, and if it is

rejected then the rest of our actions will also be rejected.

Summary

That Islaam is indeed built on the five principles of:

1) Witnessing that Allaah is our only deity and Muhammad (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) is

His Messenger to show us how to fulfill our existence on this earth as Muslims,

2) Prayer,

3) Zakaah,

4) Fasting and

5) Hajj

So one must strive to fulfill these pillars with the utmost care, concern and priority, and one

must do so normally before one gets involved with other aspects of the Deen.

Hadeeth 4: Deeds are by their Final Actions

ؽذصب سعي هللا ص هللا ػ١ : ػ أث ػجذ اشؽ ػجذ هللا ث غؼـد سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

إ أؽـذو ٠غغ خم ف ثط أ أسثؼ١ ٠ب طف ، ص )- : اصبدق اصذق – ع

٠ى ػمخ ض ره ، ص ٠ى ـعغـخ ض ره ، ص ٠شع إ١ اه ، ف١فخ ف١ اشػ ،

ثىزت سصل ، اع ، ػ ، شم أ عؼ١ذ ؛ فهللا اـز ال إــ غـ١ش : ٠ـؤش ثأسثغ وبد

إ أؽــذو ١ؼـ ثؼ أ اغ ؽز ب ٠ى ث١ ث١ب إال رساع ف١غجك ػ١ اىزبة ف١ؼـ

إ أؽذو ١ؼ ثؼ أ ابس ؽز ب ٠ى ث١ ث١ب إال رساع . ثؼـ أــ ابس فـ١ـذخـب

] غ [ 3208: سل ] سا اجخبس (فــ١غـجـك ػ١ اىزبة ف١ؼ ثؼ أ اغخ ف١ذخب

[2643: سل

On the authority of Aboo Àbd ir-Rahmaan Àbdullaah ibn Masòod (radiAllaahu anhu),

who said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and he is the Truthful,

the Believed, narrated to us:

Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother's womb for

forty days in the form of a nutfah (a drop), then he becomes an 'alaqah (clot of blood)

for a like period, then a mudghah (morsel of flesh) for a like period, then there is sent

to him the angel who blows his soul into him and who is commanded with four

matters: to write down his rizq (sustenance), his life span, his actions, and whether he

will be happy or unhappy (i.e. whether or not he will enter Paradise).

By the One, other than Whom there is no deity, verily one of you performs the actions

of the people of Paradise until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that

which has been written overtakes him, and so he acts with the actions of the people of

the Hellfire and thus enters it; and verily one of you performs the actions of the people

of the Hellfire, until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has

been written overtakes him and so he acts with the actions of the people of Paradise

and thus he enters it. [Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim.]


The statement of ibn Mas'ood that the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa salaam was "the

Truthful, the Believed" means that he was Truthful in his speech and that he was Believed in

whatever he came with of the the Wahee (inspiration).

Regarding the statement that "the creation of each one of you is brought together in his

mother's womb for forty days ..." then some of the scholars have commented that this means

that the sperm and egg are initially separate within the mother's womb, and it is Allaah who

brings them together (to form the zygote) and they remain in this 'basic' state for a period of

forty days. [Please note that this comment was made before the 8th Century Hijree, showing

the knowledge of the 'Ulemaa at that time - and further evidence of the Truthfulness of what

the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa salaam came with]

The further description of the embryo in the various stages of 'alaqah and mudghah are also

incredibly accurate - and in our times Dr Keith Moore has described this in detail in his

books on Human Development.

The angel that is sent to the embryo is the angel who is deputised with the Responsibility of

the Womb.

Regarding the statement "verily one of you performs the actions of the people of Paradise

..." then we understand that this means that a person may perform good actions correctly

until he is an arms length away from Paradise, but then what has been previously written

about him (i.e. his Qadar) will override that and he will perform evil deeds and thus enter

the Hellfire. And this is in conformance to the hadeeth that "Deeds are by their final

actions".

And it is understood and seen that the changing of a person from good to evil is rare and is

not the norm, whereas the changing of a person from evil to good is far more common - and

this is from the Kindness and Mercy of Allaah subhaanahu, the One whose Mercy knows no

bounds, and we thank and praise Him for that. And we know from the Messenger

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam that Allaah has said: "Verily My Mercy precedes My

Anger" and in another narration "Verily My Mercy overcomes my Anger".

And in this hadeeth is the establishment of the Belief in Qadar, and this is the belief of Ahl-

us-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa'ah. We believe that all occurrences are by the Pre-ordainment of

Allaah (i.e. everything that occurs has already been decreed by Allaah) and everything that

happens is only by His Will - both the good of it and the evil of it. Allaah 'azza wa jall has

said concerning Himself in His Noble Book:

"He is not asked about His Actions, but they (the

creation) are asked" [Soorah al-Anbiyaa', aayah 23]

Allaah Acts as He Wishes in His Kingdom, and no one else may act except by His Will.

Imaam as-Sam'aanee said:

The path to understanding this subject [of Qadaa' and Qadar] is through the guidance

of the Qur'aan and Sunnah, and not through analogy and bare intellect. So whoever

turns away from the guidance of these two [the Qur'aan and Sunnah] then he is

misguided and astray in a sphere of confusion, and he does not achieve the purification

of the soul, nor does he attain that which contents the heart. [This is] because al-Qadar

is something Hidden from amongst the Hidden Secrets of Allaah ta'aalaa, which He

has kept for Himself only, and has veiled from the minds and understanding of the

creation. And Allaah ta'aalaa has veiled the knowledge of al-Qadar from all of

creation, so that not even the angels or the Messengers comprehend it. And it has been

said that the secrets of al-Qadar will be revealed to them when they enter Paradise, but

not before that.

And in other ahaadeeth it is established that a person should not leave performing good

actions, depending upon what has already been written for him in his Qadar, but rather he

should act according to whatever has been prescribed for him in the Sharee'ah. For whoever

is of the People of Bliss then Allaah will make easy for him the actions of the People of

Bliss, whereas whoever is of the People of Sadness then Allaah will make easy for him the

actions of the People of Sadness, as is mentioned in the hadeeth. And also there is the saying

of Allaah 'azza wa jall in His Noble Book:

"And We shall make easy for him [the righteous one]

the path of Good ... And We shall make easy for him

[the wicked one] the path of Evil" [Soorah al-Lail].

Some of the Scholars have said : It is obligatory to have eemaan [faith] in the Book of

Allaah, and the Lawh (Protected Tablet) and His Pen [which was ordered to write down

everything in the Lawh], but as for the precise nature of these and their modality or

'howness' (kayfiyyah) then this knowledge is with Allaah alone, and no one attains any of

His knowledge except what He wishes, and Allaah knows best.

Summary

That the angel of life blows the soul into the foetus after it is 120 days old, so

without doubt, terminating the life of a foetus when it is over 4 months old is

definitely murder.

That each child which is born has its sustenance, how long it will live, what it will do

and how it will fare, recorded before birth since Allaah knows the past and the future

and allows the child to be what it will be.

That since life, sustenance, ability and existence is in the Hands of Allaah and taken

care of by Him, one who knows this will not become deceitful or desperate about

these things, but worship Allaah constantly and patiently.

That the results are in the Hands of Allaah and one must do what one knows is best

according to His Deen.

That one never knows how a person will change, either for the good or the bad, so

one should not give up trying.

It is permissible to say "By Allaah" to emphasise something.

One should seek refuge with Allaah from lapsing into evil.

Hadeeth 5: Rejection of Evil Deeds and Innovations

)لبي سعي هللا ص هللا ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص : ػ ا اؤ١ أ ػجذ هللا ػـبئـشخ سظ هللا ػب ، لبذ

سل ] ، غ [ 2697: سل ] سا اـجـخـبس . (أؽذس ف أشب ـزا ـب ـ١ـظ ـ فـ سد

:1718 .]

(ـ ػــ ػــال ـ١ـظ ػــ١ أـشب فـ سد ): ف سا٠خ غ

On the authority of the Mother of the Faithful, Umm `Abdillaah `Aaishah (radi Allaahu

'anhaa) , who said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaau alayhi wa sallam) said:

“He who innovates something in this matter of ours [i.e. Islaam] that is not of it will

have it rejected [by Allaah]”. [Related by al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

In one version by Muslim it reads: He who does an act which we have not commanded, will

have it rejected [by Allaah].

Explanation of Hadeeth Number 5

This hadeeth is a Great Principle from amongst the Principles of the Religion, and it is an

example of the Perfect and Concise Speech of the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa salaam,

as in it is found a clear rejection of every innovation (bid'ah) and every innovator. And this

hadeeth is also used as a proof of the invalidity of every contract prohibited by the

Sharee'ah, and also by some of the scholars of Usool ul-Fiqh when they say that a

prohibition implies the invalidity of that action.

And in the second narration which states that "He who does an act which we have not

commanded, will have it rejected" there is a clear and unequivocal command to leave all

things which are newly introduced into the religion, whether the person invents that action

himself or whether he follows someone else who has preceeded him. For verily some of the

obstinate innovators give as a proof for their innovation the fact that they themselves have

not introduced the innovation, but rather they are following the action of someone else - and

they use the first hadeeth above to show that they are then not blameworthy.

And this hadeeth should be acted upon meticulously in all our affairs, and it should be

preserved and spread amongst the people and used as an evidence to show the invalidity of

all innovations and evil actions, for verily it includes in its meaning all of that.

However, as for the Furoo' (branches) of knowledge which are established from the Usool

(basic principles) and which do not depart from the Sunnah, then these are not referred to by

this hadeeth. For example, the writing down of the Qur'aan as a Mus-haf by 'Uthmaan

(radiAllaauh 'anhu), or the establishment of the various madhhabs in Fiqh (Schools of

Jurisprudence), which are from the understanding of the Mujtahid scholars of Fiqh, those

who built the matters of Furoo' upon the Usool (which are the statements of the Prophet

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam). And also, from amongst the matters not included in this

hadeeth is the writing of books on subjects such as Grammar, or Arithmetic, or the Laws of

Inheritance, and other than that from the sciences that are built upon the statements and

commands of the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.

Summary

That anything new introduced in the matter of worship, which has not already been

given sanction from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah will not be accepted by Allaah.

That anything new incorporated into the Deen must be thrown away and rejected by

the Muslims.

Hadeeth 6: The Halaal is Clear and the Haraam is Clear

عؼـذ سعـي هللا ص هللا ػـ١ : ػ أث ػجذ هللا اؼـب ث ثش١ش سظ هللا ػـب ، لـبي

إ اؾالي ث١ ، إ اؾـشا ث١ ، ث١ب أـس شزجبد ال ٠ؼـ وض١ش ): ع ٠مي

ابط ، ف ارم اشجبد فـمـذ اعزجشأ ذ٠ـ ػـشظ ، لغ ف اشجبد لـغ ف اؾشا ،

وـبشاػ ٠ـشػ ؽي اؾ ٠شه أ ٠شرغ ف١،أال إ ى ه ؽ ، أال إ ؽ هللا

ؾبس ، أال إ ف اغـغذ عغخ إرا صؾـذ صؼ اغغذ و ، إرا فـغـذد فـغـذ اغغـذ

[1599: سل ] غ [ 52: سل ] سا اجخبس (وــ ، أال اـمـت

On the authority of Aboo `Abdillaah an-Nu`maan the son of Basheer (radiAllaahu

'anhumaa), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) say:

That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear, and between the two

of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Thus he who

avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honour, but he

who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that which is unlawful, like the

shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king

has a sanctuary, and truly Allaah's sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body

there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it

is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart. [Related by al-Bukhaari

and Muslim.]


This hadeeth is a great Principle from the Principles of the Sharee'ah, such that the well

known Muhaddith Aboo Dawood as-Sijistaanee said, "al-Islaam revolves around four

ahaadeeth" , and he then mentioned this hadeeth amongst them. And there is consensus

amongst the People of Knowledge upon the great status of this hadeeth and its immense

benefits.

The statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam "That which is lawful is clear and

that which is unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters" implies

that matters are of three types.

Whatever Allaah has established to be permissible in a text, then it is the 'clear' Halaal, such

as the statement of Allaah ta'aalaa:

"Made lawful to you this day are AtTayyibaat [all

kinds of lawful foods, such as meat of slaughtered

eatable animals, milk, vegetables and fruits, etc.] The

food of the people of the Scripture (Jews and

Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to

them." [al-Maa'idah 5:5]

And whatever Allaah has established to be forbidden in a text, then that is the 'clear'

Haraam, such as the statement of Allaah ta'aalaa:

"Forbidden to you (for marriage) are: your mothers,

your daughters, your sisters ..." [an-Nisaa 4:23]

And also such as the forbiddance of fawaahish (evil lusts and desires), that which is apparent

of it and also that which is hidden of it. And every matter concerning which Allaah has

established upon it a limit or associated with it a punishment or a threat, then that matter is

also included amongst the 'clear' haraam.

As for the the 'doubtful matters' then they are those issues in which there appears (to the

layman) to be opposing evidences from the Book and the Sunnah, and so in this case

restraint from them is from piety.

And the scholars have differed regarding the ruling upon the doubtful matters mentioned by

the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam in this hadeeth.

So one opinion is that they are all Haraam, due the saying of the Messenger sallAllaahu

alayhi wa salaam "[he] clears himself in regard to his religion and his honour", as whoever

does safeguard his religion and his honour has definitely fallen into the Haraam.

Another opinion is that they are Halaal, due the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam "like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary", so this indicates that these

actions are permissible, but leaving them is from piety.

And a third opinion is that we make no ruling regarding the doubtful matters, and do not say

that they are Halaal nor that they are Haraam, as the Prophet sallAllaahu alayi wa salaam

placed them between the clear Halaal and the clear Haraam. Hence it is required that we

refrain from passing judgement and this too is from piety.

And in the hadeeth from 'Adiyy ibn Haatim that he said to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa

salaam:

"O Messenger of Allaah! [Sometimes] I send my hunting dog after game, after

pronouncing 'bismillaah' upon it, but when I reach the catch I find another dog there

too (upon which I had not pronounced the name of Allaah)." So the Prophet

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam replied: "Do not eat from it (the catch), for verily you

pronounced the name of Allaah upon your dog, but not upon the other dog."

So the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam gave a verdict based upon a doubt, fearing that

the dog which killed the game was the other dog upon which the name of Allaah had not

been pronounced, hence making the kill slaughtered for other than Allaah. And Allaah has

said about this:

"Eat not of that (meat) on which Allaah's Name has

not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering),

for surely it is Fisq (a sin and disobedience of

Allaah)." [al-An'aam 6:121]

So this verdict contains evidence for taking care regarding those actions or events that

involve some judgement regarding what is Halaal or Haraam, due to the similarity between

the different situations. And this is encompassed in the meaning of the statement of the

Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam: "Leave that which causes you doubt, for that which

does not cause you doubt." [narrated by an-Nasaa'ee]

And some of the scholars have said the doubtful matters can be divided into three types:

1) That affair which a person knows to be Haraam, but which he then doubts as to whether

its forbiddance still continues or not. For example, a person cannot eat from an animal until

he is sure that is has been slaughtered Islaamically, and so if he has doubts about this then

the forbiddance to eat continues until certainty of the correct slaughtering is achieved. And

the origin of this is in the hadeeth of 'Adiyy mentioned above. [Note: this is referring to a

situation similar to when 'Adiyy came upon the dogs next to the kill - and not when your

butcher says the meat is Halaal and you doubt it!]

2) The opposite of this, where the affair is originally Halaal, and the person has doubts

regarding whether it has become Haraam. And whatever is of this type then it is considered

permissible until its forbiddance is clearly established. And the origin of this is the hadeeth

of Abdullaah bin Zayd, regarding the doubt in ones wudoo' if one is sure that previously he

had made wudoo'. [i.e. one continues upon the assumption of being with wudoo' until it

becomes clear that the wudoo' has broken]

3) The third type is where one has doubts about a matter and one does not know whether it

is Halaal or Haraam, and the matter could be of either of the two, and there is no clear

evidence to establish either ruling. Then in this situation the best course of action is restraint.

For example, once the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam found a date in his house, but

did not eat it for he feared that it may have been from that given as sadaqah (as the Prophet

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam was forbidden from taking of sadaqah).

However, if a person chooses the opposite of what is clearly apparent due to an imaginary

doubt which has no evidence, then restraint in such a situation is foolishness, and is from the

whisperings of shaytaan. For example, a person may restrain from praying in a place which

has no visible traces of filth, simply out of a fear that maybe some urine had fallen there and

since dried. Or a person may wash a dress simply out of a fear that some filth (najaasah)

came upon it but which he did not actually see upon it. So in all such situations where there

is no 'real' doubt then it is required that one does not leave the action.

And the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam "about which many people

do not know" means that many people do not know the shar'ee ruling upon these matters.

However, the People of Knowledge may be able to associate such matters with other

principles that they must follow, and thus achieve a ruling upon them as to whether they are

Halaal or Haraam, and thus they cease to be doubtful matters.

As for the statement "but he who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that which

is unlawful" then this is from two angles:

1) The one who does not fear Allaah and indulges in doubtful matters, eventually begins to

practise the Forbidden actions too, and becomes lenient in these affairs. And this is as some

of the 'ulemaa have said that minor sins lead to major sins and major sins lead to kufr.

2) The one who often indulges in doubtful matters oppresses himself as his heart is deprived

of the Light of Knowledge and the Light of Piety, so he ends up falling into the Haraam and

does not realise it.

And just as a King has a sanctuary, which the shepherds must keep their sheep away from,

so too has Allaah specified certain things as Forbidden for his slaves, which they must

refrain from - such as murder, interest (ribaa), theft, drinking alcohol, backbiting and tale-

carrying, and other such things, all of which we should keep well away from for fear of

falling into them.

As for the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam "Truly in the body there is

a morsel of flesh, which, if it be whole, all the body is whole ... ":

Allaah ta'aalaa has blessed only man and the animals with this special organ - the heart - and

through it we find that even the animals recognize that which benefits them and that which

harms them. Then, Allaah has singled out al-Insaan from amongst all the animals with the

faculty of the intellect, and additional faculties within the heart. Allah says:

"Have they not travelled through the land, and have

they hearts wherewith to understand and ears

wherewith to hear?" [al-Hajj 22:46]

And the various limbs of the body are subservient to the heart, so whatever the heart decides

upon, that action appears upon the limbs. So if the heart is good then the actions of the limbs

are good, and if the heart is corrupt then the actions of the limbs are also corrupt. And if this

fact is understood then the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam "if it be

whole, all the body is whole, and if it is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased" becomes

clear.

We ask Allaah the Majestic to cleanse the corruption of our hearts. O Changer of Hearts,

establish our hearts upon Your Deen! O Controller of Hearts, turn our hearts towards Your

obedience!

Summary

That those things which are Haraam are clear and need clear evidence.

That one who does doubtful things may well be doing what is Haraam.

That it is difficult to live honorably when doing the doubtful.

That Allaah is the King; The King of kings.

That it is understandable that Allaah should have things prohibited for us.

That the sanctuary of Allaah which we must not enter is all those things which He

has made Haraam for us. Thus we must know what is Haraam and definitely avoid

them.

That doing the doubtful or what is forbidden adversely affects the heart.

That it is important to make and keep the heart pure, since it affects the rest of us.

Thus we should look for ways to purify and preserve our hearts from being stained.

Hadeeth 7: The Religion is Naseehah (Sincere Advice)

):ػ أثـ سلــ١ـخ رـ١ ث أط اـذاس سظ هللا ػ ، أ اج ص هللا ػـ١ عـ لـبي

. (اـذ٠ـ اص١ؾخ

؟؟ : لب

55: سل ]سا غ (هللا ، ـىـزـبثـ ، ـشعــ ، أل ئــخ اــغـــ١ـ ػــبـز ): لبي

]

On the authority of Abu Ruqayya Tameem ibn Aus ad-Daaree (radi Allaahu anhu) that the

Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

'The Deen (religion) is naseehah (advice/sincerity)'. We said 'To whom?' He said 'To

Allah and His Book, and His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their

common folk.' [Related by Muslim]


This is the only hadeeth narrated by Tameem ad-Daaree (radi Allaahu 'anhu). And

'Naseehah' is a comprehensive word, whose meaning implies the desire for all possible good

for the one being advised. And this word 'an-naseehah' is most concise in speech, and there

is no other single word in the Arabic language that completetly and precisely explains its

meaning, just as it is said that regarding the word 'al-Falaah' (the success) that there is no

other word in the Arabic language that more precisely and succinctly describes the good of

both this world and the next.

And the meaning of his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "The Deen is Naseehah" is

that the main pillar of the Religion and its Straightness lies in this concept of Naseehah. And

this is similar to the Prophet's sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam statement "The Hajj is 'Arafah",

meaning the main pillar of the Hajj is the standing in the Plain of 'Arafah.

As for the detailed explanation of Naseehah then al-Khattaabee (rahimhu Allaah) and others

from amongst the 'ulemaa have said:

Naseehah to Allaah ta'aalaa refers to belief in Him and the negation of all shirk, and

leaving heresy and disbelief in His Attributes, rather describing Him with the Perfect

and Complete Attributes, all of them, and freeing Him of all deficiencies. And it

further implies being firm upon His obedience and keeping away from sin, and loving

for His sake and hating for His sake, and waging Jihaad against those who disbelieve

in Him. And recognising His favours and thanking Him for that, and having sincerity

for Him in all our affairs, and supplicating to Him with all of His Names and

Attributes that He has mentioned, and encouraging others upon that, and courteous

behaviour with the people.

al-Khattaabee also said:

And the reality of these characteristics return back to the slave himself, in his advising

himself, for verily Allaah subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa is in no need of any advice/counsel

from His slaves.

And as for the Naseehah to His Book, then this is by believing it to be the Speech of Allaah

ta'aala, and what He has sent down as Revelation, and that there is no similarity between the

Speech of Allaah and the speech of mankind. And that no one from amongst the creation is

able to produce anything like it. And further, glorification of His Book and reciting it as it

should be recited and fulfilling its Rights, beautifying the recitation and having khushoo'

(humility, submissiveness) while doing so, and establishing the correct pronunciation of its

letters. And also, defending the Qur'aan from the false interpretations of the innovators, and

having faith in all that is in it, and understanding its sciences and examples, and accepting its

mutashaabih (hidden, unclear), and making du'aa by it.

And as for the Naseehah to His Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) then this involves

believing in his Messengership, and having faith in all that he came with, and obeying him

in all that he ordered or forbade, and helping him both in his life and after his death, and

having enmity with all those who have enmity with him, and having allegiance to all those

who have allegiance with him, and fulfilling his Rights, and honouring him, and reviving his

manner and Sunnah, and responding to his da'wah, and spreading his Sunnah, and

understanding its meanings and sciences, and calling towards it, and being eager in studying

it, and showing respect when it is mentioned, and refraining from speaking about it without

knowledge, and mixing amongst the people of the Sunnah, and behaving with the character

taught by the Sunnah, and showing love towards the members of the Prophet's sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam Household, and his Companions, and keeping away from those who

innovate in his Sunnah or those who reject/oppose any one of his Companions, or anything

like that.

And as for the Naseehah to the leaders of the Muslims, then this involves helping them in

the Truth, and obeying them, and ordering them with the Truth, and reminding them of it

with kindness and gentle words, and notifying/advising them of that which they have

neglected, and informing them of the Rights of the Muslims, and not rebelling against them

with the sword, and gathering the hearts of the people upon obeying them, and praying

behind them, and fighting in Jihaad along with them, and making supplication for their

correction.

And as for the Naseehah to the common folk of the Muslims, and they are those who are

other than the rulers, then it involves guiding them towards that which will correct their

affairs of both this life and the next, and helping them in that. And it involves protecting

them from harm, and helping them in times of need, and acquiring what is beneficial for

them, and ordering them with al-Ma'roof (good) and forbidding them from al-Munkar (evil)

with kindness and sincerity, and showing mercy towards them. And it involves honouring

and respecting their elders, and showing kindness to their youngsters, and supporting them

with good advice. And leaving cheating them or having jealousy of them, and that one loves

for them what one loves for oneself of goodness, and that one hates for them what one hates

for oneself of evil, and protecting their wealth and honour, and other than that from speech

and action. And it also involves encouraging them upon all that we have mentioned above of

the various types of Naseehah, and Allaah knows best.

And giving Naseehah (advice) is a Fardh Kifaayah, such that if a sufficient number of

people perform it then the obligation is lifted from the community as a whole, and it is

obligatory according to the ability of the individual.

And in the arabic language 'naseehah' means 'purification/clarification', as it is said: "I

purified (nasahtu) the honey", and it is said that it means other than that. And Allaah knows

best.

Summary

That one cannot worship Allah sincerely without being sincere to what He has revealed, and

to the people according to their station in life. Also one has to respect and honour His

Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), which is to respect and honour what he said, did,

approved of or recommended, and to love him for who he was and what he was.

Hadeeth 8: Sanctity of a Muslim

أشد أ ألبر ابط ):ػ اث ػش سظ هللا ػب ، ا سعي هللا ص هللا ػ١ عـ لـبي

ؽز ٠ـشـــذا أ ال إــ إال هللا أ دمحم سعي هللا ، ٠ـمـ١ــا اصالح ، ٠ؤرا اضوبح ؛ فئرا

سا (فؼا ره ػصا دبء أا إال ثؾك اإلعال ، ؽغبث ػ هللا رؼب

[22: سل ] غ [25:سل ]اجخبس

On the authority of the son of 'Umar (radi Allaahu 'anhumaa) that the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that there is none

worthy of Worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah,

and until they establish the Salaah and pay the Zakaah. And if they do that then they

will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they commit

acts that are punishable] in Islaam, and their Reckoning will be with Allaah. [Related

by Bukhaaree and Muslim]


This is a Great Hadeeth and a Principle from amongst the Principles of the Religion. It has

also been narrated by Anas (radi Allaahu 'anhu) whose version mentions:

"Until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that

Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, and accept our Qiblah, and eat from what we

slaughter, and and pray our Salaah. And if they do all that, then their blood and wealth

is Protected except from the Rights of Islaam. And for them is what is for the Muslims

and upon them is what is upon the Muslims."

And it has come in Saheeh Muslim from the narration of Abu Hurayrah (radiAllaahu 'anhu):

"Until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and believe in

me and in what I have come with"

and this has the same meaning as what Ibn 'Umar narrated.

As for the meaning of this hadeeth, then the scholars of seerah have said:

After the death of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq

radiAllaahu 'anhu became the Khaleefah, and some of the Arab tribes apostasized, so

Abu Bakr prepared to fight them. And amongst them were those who refused to pay

the Zakaah, but who had not explicitly apostasized. So 'Umar radiAllaahu 'anhu said to

Abu Bakr:

"How can you fight a people who have said 'laa ilaaha illaa Allaah' and the Prophet

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said 'I have been ordered to fight the people until they

say 'laa ilaaha illaa Allaah'?" So Abu Bakr radiAllaahu 'anhu replied : "By Allaah! If

they refuse to pay (in Zakaah) a young goat that they used to pay the Prophet

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, I will fight them."

And 'Umar radiAllaahu 'anhu followed him in doing this.

Regarding the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa salaam "I have been ordered

to fight the people until they say 'laa ilaahaa illaa Allaah' ..." al-Khattaabee rahimahu Allaah

and others said:

The people referred to here are the idol worshippers and the mushriks of the Arabs,

and those who do not believe apart from the People of the Book. And whoever

approves of Tawheed from his own religion of Kufr, then his statement of 'laa ilaaha

illaa Allaah' is not enough to protect his blood and wealth, as has come in other

narrations that mention that one must also believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of

Allaah, and establish the Salaah, and pay the Zakaah.

And Shaykh Muyee ad-Deen an-Nawawee said:

"And it is necessary that he believes along with this in all that the Messenger

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam came with, as is mentioned in the hadeeth of Abu

Hurayrah : 'until they testify that none is worthy of worship except Allaah, and believe

in me and in all that I come with'".

And the meaning of his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "and their Reckoning will

be with Allaah" refers to those matters which they hide from the people, i.e. those things

other than that which is outwardly apparent from the compulsory actions. Al-Khattaabee

mentions this and then says:

"And from this is that the one who outwardly shows Islaam but secretly maintains

Kufr, then his Islaam is accepted outwardly by the people, and this is the opinion of

most of the People of Knowledge."

And in his (sallAllaahu alayi wa sallam) statement: "I have been ordered to fight the people

until they testify that none is worthy of worship except Allaah, and believe in me and in all

that I come with" is a clear proof for the position of the People of Truth and the vast

majority of the Salaf and the Khalaf, that it is enough for a person to believe in the Religion

of Islaam with a firm, unwavering belief, without it being necessary for him to understand

the proofs of the Mutakallimoon (people of Theological Rhetoric) regarding the 'recognition'

of Allaah through the intellect. And this opposite to the statement of those people that it is

an obligatory condition for the correctness of ones eemaan. And this is clear from the fact

the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned only at-Tasdeeq (belief, affirmation)

and did not lay any condition for it through intellectual recognition. And this hadeeth

appears a number of times in the Saheeh, and together they reach the rank of mutawaatir,

without doubt yielding definite knowledge, and Allaah knows best.

Summary

That the disbelieving people are fought until Islaam triumphs.

That it is an order from Allaah and thus waajib.

That the Ameer of the Muslims enforces protection of the lives and the properties of

the Muslims.

That if a Muslim does something which deserves a punishment according to the

Rulings of Islaam, then the Ameer of the Muslims must enforce that too.

That the punishments must be given, regardless of what Allaah will Judge for them

(i.e. Allaah may punish them or forgive them).

Hadeeth 9: Obligations are according to Ability

عؼذ سعي هللا ص هللا ػ١ : ػ أث ش٠شح ػجذ اشؽ ث صخش سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

ب ١زى ػ فبعزج ، ب أشرى ث فأرا ب اعزطؼز ، فئب أه از٠ ): ع ٠مي

سل ] ، غ [ 7288: سل ] سا اجخبس . ( لجى وضشح غبئ اخزالف ػ اج١بئ

:1337]

On the authority of Abu Hurairah 'Abd-ur-Rahmaan ibn Sakhr (radiAllaahu 'anhu) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayi wa sallam) say:

"What I have forbidden for you, avoid. What I have ordered you [to do], do as much

of it as you can. For verily, it was only the excessive questioning and their disagreeing

with their Prophets that destroyed [the nations] who were before you". [Related by al-

Bukhaaree and Muslim]


The wording of this hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, from Abu Hurairah radiAllaah 'anhu, states:

The Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayi wa sallam addressed us and said:

"O People! Hajj has been made obligatory upon you, so perform the Hajj." So a man

asked: "Is that every year, O Messenger of Allaah?" So the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam remained silent until the man repeated his question three times. Then he

said: "If I had said 'yes' then it would have become obligatory upon you [i.e. every

year], and you would not have been able to do so. Do not ask me about that which I

have left [unspecified], for verily the nations before you were destroyed by their

excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their Prophets. So if I order you with

something then do as much of it as you are able, and if I forbid you from something

then keep away from it."

And the Scholars of Usool (i.e. in Fiqh) have differed over the issue of the Command to

perform an action - does it imply repetition? That is, if we are ordered to do something then

does that automatically imply that we must do it repeatedly? Or does it mean that doing it

once is sufficient unless otherwise specified? For example, we are commanded with Hajj but

that is just once in a lifetime, but we are also commanded with Salaah and that is every day.

So most of the Fuqahaa (jurists) have decided that a command does not automatically imply

repetition. Others have said that we do not rule that it implies repetition nor do we rule that

it does not imply repetition, except with a further evidence that indicates one or the other.

And this hadeeth is a proof for those who have the latter opinion. For if there were an

automatically implied ruling of either repetition or no repetition then the Prophet sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam would not have replied "If I had said yes then it would have become

obligatory, and you would not have been able to do that." Rather, if there had been an

automatic implication of repetition or otherwise, then the man would not have asked the

question in the first place.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Do not ask me about that which I

have left [unspecified]" then this apparently indicates that a command does not imply

repetition, and also that the origin of all affairs is that they are not waajib, until the Sharee'ah

specifies them as being waajib. And this is the correct position according to the majority of

the Scholars of Usool.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "If I had said yes it would have become

obligaotory upon you" is an evidence that he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) would make

ijtihaad in rulings, and that it was not binding upon him that all rulings be made by

Revelation.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "What I have ordered you [to do], do as

much of it as you can" is an important Principle of Islaam, and is from his Concise speech.

And based upon this principle are countless other rulings - such as the Prayer of one who is

unable to complete some of its pillars or conditions, then he performs what he is able to

from that which remains. And the one who cannot wash all the necessary limbs of wudoo',

washes that which he is able to. And in the case of removing evil, then if one is not able to

remove it entirely then one removes what one is able to. And many other affairs like these,

as are well known from the Books of Fiqh. And this hadeeth is similar to the statement of

Allaah ta'aalaa:

"And have taqwaa of Allaah, as much as you are able"

[at-Taghaabun, 16]

And as for His statement

"O you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should be

feared" [aal 'Imraan, 102]

then it has been said that this is abrogated by the aayah "And have taqwaa of Allaah, as

much as you are able". However, what is correct is that it is not abrogated, but rather the

first aayah is an explanation of this aayah, and makes clear what is intended by it. And it has

been said that "fearing Allaah as He should be feared" means obeying Him all in that He has

commanded, and staying away from all that He has forbidden, and Allaah subhaanahu does

not order us except with that which we are able to do, as verily Allaah has said:

"Allaah does not burden a soul more than it can bear"

[al-Baqarah, 286]

"and [Allaah] has not laid upon you in religion any

hardship" [al-Hajj, 78]

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "and what I have forbidden you

from then avoid it" then this is to be taken to apply generally in all situations, except if one

has a necessity, such as eating meat from an animal which has not been correctly

slaughtered if one's life is in danger or what is similar to that, then that is not considered to

be forbidden. However, in all conditions other than that of ncessity the individual is not

considered to have fulfilled this forbiddance of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam

until he leaves all those things which the Sharee'ah forbids. So he does not fulfill the

forbiddance if he continues to practise even one of the forbidden things. This is in

opposition to what has been commanded to do, for in terms of the commands we must do

whatever we are able.

And in his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "verily the nations before you were

destroyed due to their excessive questioning and disagreeing with their Prophets", then this

was mentioned after his saying "Do not ask me about that which I have left [unspecified]".

And this implies that we should not be excessive in questioning, as then we would be similar

to the Banoo Israa'eel when it was said to them: "Sacrifice a cow". So if they had taken these

words upon their apparent meaning and sacrificed any cow they would have fulfilled the

command. But because they insisted on asking many questions regarding its colour, its

appearance, its work etc, the matter became difficult for them, until they were able to find a

suitable cow only after a great search and paying a large sum of money. So they were

blameworthy for this, and our Prophet Muhammad sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam feared the

same for his Ummah.

Summary

That what is Haraam must be avoided

That one must make sure that one has a satisfactory plea to present to Allaah for not

doing what the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam has ordered

That one must not ask too many questions. Ideally, one only wants to know what

Islaam says [about a thing] and do that

That asking too many questions and disagreeing with the Messenger sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam can cause our destruction. If it happened to the people before us it

can happen to us too

Hadeeth 10: Restricting oneself to the Pleasant Halaal

إ هللا رؼب غ١ت ال ):لبي سعي هللا ص هللا ػ١ ع : ػ أث ش٠شح سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

٠ب أ٠ب اشع وا }:٠مج إال غ١جب ، إ هللا أش اؤ١ ثب أش ث اشع١ فمبي رؼب

، ص { ٠ب أ٠ب از٠ اا وا غ١جبد ب سصلبو } :، لبي رؼب {اط١جبد اػا صبؾب

طؼ ؽشا ! ٠ب سة ! ٠ب سة : روش اشع ٠ط١ اغفش أشؼش أغجش ٠ذ ٠ذ إ اغبء

[1015: سل ]سا غ . ششث ؽشا جغ ؽشا غز ثبؾشا فأ ٠غزغبة ؟

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu 'anhu) who said: The Messenger of Allaah


Allaah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allaah

has commanded the Believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers.

So the Almighty has said:

"O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all

kinds of Halaal (legal) foods], and perform

righteous deeds." [23:51]

and the Almighty has said:

"O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that

We have provided you" [2:172]

Then he mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and

dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying "O Lord! O Lord!", while his

food is Haraam (unlawful), his drink is Haraam, his clothing is Haraam, and he has

been nourished with Haraam, so how can [his supplication] be answered ?! [Narrated

by Muslim.]


And this is one of those ahaadeeth upon which the Principles and Rulings of Islaam are

built. And in it is encouragement towards spending upon that which is Halaal, and

forbiddance from spending upon that which is other than that. And that what is eaten, and

what is drunk and what is worn, and all such similar things should be purely Halaal, without

any doubt in them. And that whosoever wishes to supplicate to Allaah should humble and

submit himself before his Lord with that which is Halaal. And from the hadeeth we also

understand that when the slave spends upon the good, Halaal things then these things purify

him and bring him prosperity. And that delicious and tasty food which is not permissible to

eat will instead be a source of evil and punishment, and the actions of the slave will then not

be acceptable by Allaah.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Then he mentioned [the case] of a man

who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty ..." then its meaning is best known by

Allaah. But we know from other ahaadeeth that the supplication of the traveller is more

readily acceptable to Allaah, and a 'long journey' could be from amongst the actions of

worship, such as the Hajj or Jihaad or other than that from the pious actions. And even in

this case his supplication is still not accepted because his food, drink and clothing are

Haraam. So how about the case of the one who is travelling for some purpose of the dunyaa,

or for oppressing the people, or those who are ignorant of the various types of worship and

goodness.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "who spreads out his hands to the

sky" means that he raises his hands in supplication to Allaah 'azza wa jall, while at the same

time he is opposing His commands and is sinning. And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

statement: "so how can [his supplication] be answered ?!" and in another narration "so how

can he be answered because of that ?!", means that there cannot be an answer for the one

who possesses such characteristics. Such a person cannot be amongst those whose

supplication will be answered, unless Allaah the Almighty does so out of His infinite Grace

and Kindness and Generosity, and Allaah knows best.

Summary

That Allaah accepts only that which is good

That every believer is obliged to do that which the Messengers were obliged to do

(except what is specifically exempted)

That every Muslim must eat only Halaal and must take great care that he has avoided

eating whatever he knew to be Haraam or suspicious

That performing righteous deeds is waajib for every one of us

That frequently we turn to Allaah for help while we do not try to eat, drink, maintain

ourselves and earn in a pure way

That if we do not take care of the above then our prayers will not be effective

That it is correct to raise ones hands while asking Allaah for something

Hadeeth 11: Being Cautious of the Doubtful

: ػ أث دمحم اؾغ ث ػ ث اث غبت عجػ سعي هللا ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص س٠ؾبز سظ هللا ػــب ، لـبي

. (دع ب ٠ـش٠ـجـه إ ب ال ٠ـش٠ـجـه ): ؽـفـظـذ ـ سعــي هللا ص هللا ػـ١ـ ع

ؽذ٠ش ؽغ : ، لبي ازشز [ 5711: سل ] ، اغبئ [ 2520: سل ]سا ازشز

.صؾ١ؼ

On the authority of Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn 'Alee ibn Abee Taalib (radiAllaahu

'anhumaa), the grandson of the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), and the

one much loved by him, who said: I memorised from the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam):

Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt. [It was

related by at-Tirmidhee and an-Nasaa'ee, with at-Tirmidhee saying that it was a good

and sound (hasan saheeh) hadeeth.]


Its meaning returns back to what has already been said regarding the meaning of Hadeeth 6,

that is "The Halaal is Clear, and the Haraam is Clear, and between them are Doubtful

matters". And it has been narrated in another hadeeth that the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam said:

"The slave will never be able to attain the ranks of the Muttaqoon (pious ones) until he

leaves those things which do not seem to have any harm in them, fearing that they may

indeed be harmful/unlawful."

And this would be a higher station than that indicated by the first hadeeth.

And Allaah knows best.

Summary

That it is essential to leave the doubtful things

That one cannot continue doing the doubtful when one knows of an alternative with

certainty

Hadeeth 12: Leaving that which does not concern a

Muslim

ؽغ إعال اشء رشو ب ال ): لبي سعي هللا ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص : ػ أث ش٠شح سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

. (٠ؼـ١

[3976: سل ] اث بع [ 2318: سل ]ؽذ٠ش ؽغ ، سا ازشز

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu 'anhu) who said: The Messenger of Allaah


Part of the perfection of one's Islaam is his leaving that which does not concern him.

A Hasan (Good) Hadeeth which was related by at-Tirmidhee and others in this fashion.


And this hadeeth has also been narrated by Qurrah bin 'Abd-ir-Rahmaan from [the great

Muhaddith] az-Zuhree, from Abee Salamah from Abee Hurairah, and he considered its

chains of narration Saheeh (Authentic), and then he said regarding the hadeeth that it is from

the Comprehensive speech that contains many significant meanings, and all this in very few

words. And similar to this [hadeeth] is the statement of Abu Dharr (radiAllaahu anhu) in

some of his narrations from the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) that he said:

"And whoever accounts his speech by his actions, then his speech will be very little

except in that which concerns him".

And Imaam Maalik mentioned that it reached him that it was said to Luqmaan: "What has

enabled you to attain what we see in you of Grace and Blessing ?" to which he replied:

"Speaking the Truth, returning the Trusts, and leaving that which does not concern

me."

And it has been narrated from Hasan [al-Basree] that he said:

"From the signs that Allaah ta'aalaa has turned away from the slave is that he finds

himself continually engaged in those matters which are not of his concern."

And Abu Daawood as-Sijistaanee said:

"The basic principles of the Sunnah in each branch of learning are based upon four

ahaadeeth"

and he mentioned among them this hadeeth.

Summary

That prying and interfering in others affairs is a sign of not being a good Muslim

Hadeeth 13 : Loves for his Brother that which he Loves

for Himself

ػـ أث ؽــضح أـظ ثـ ـبـه سظ هللا ػــ ، خــبد سعـي هللا ص هللا ػــ١ـ عـ،ػ

ال ٠ـؤـ اؽـذوـ ؽـز ٠ـؾـت ألخـ١ـ ــب ٠ـؾـجـ ــفـغـ ): اج ص هللا ػــ١ـ عــ لــبي

. )

[45: سل ] ، غ [ 13: سل ]سا اجخبس

On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Maalik (radiAllaahu anhu) - the servant of the

Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) - that the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) said :

None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for

himself.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim


This hadeeth has been narrated thus in Saheeh al-Bukhaaree as "for his brother" without any

doubt on the part of the narrator, while in Saheeh Muslim the narrator mentions that the

wording may have been "for his brother" or "for his neighbour".

The 'ulamaa have said that the meaning of the hadeeth is that the one who does not have this

characteristic has not believed with the complete and perfect eemaan, while he has already

achieved the basic level of eemaan.

And the intented meaning of "loves for his brother" is those things which are from

obedience to Allaah, and the permissible matters, as opposed to the evil or Haraam matters,

and this is proved from the narration collected by an-Nasaa'ee which mentions : "until he

loves for his brother from the good that which he loves for himself".

Shaykh Abu 'Amr ibn as-Salaah said : And this appears to be something which is

difficult/unobtainable, but this is not the case, beacuse its meaning is that the eemaan of one

of you is not completed/perfected until he loves for his brother in Islaam that which he loves

for himself [and not that he has no eemaan at all until he does so]. And establishing this is

obtained through loving that he obtains something good without vying/competing with him

in obtaining that thing, meaning that he does not desire any decrease in him of blessing.

[This is the opposite of hasad or jealousy, where one wishes that his brother is deprived of a

blessing, and that you posses it instead]. And this is easy and attainable for the Pure and

Upright heart, but is difficult for the corrupt heart - may Allaah ta'aalaa forgive us and all of

our brothers.

And Abu az-Zinaad said : What is apparent from this hadeeth is that one desires for ones

brother the same as that which one wishes for oneself, but the real meaning is that one

desires for him better than what one wishes for oneself. This is because man always wishes

that he is the best of the people [in all things]; so if he loves for his brother what he loves for

himself [to be the best], then he has placed his brother amongst the generality of those who

are the best. [Also,] do you not see that man desires to receive justice for his rights and

injustices done against him ? So if he has completed/perfected his eemaan, and then he sees

that he has wronged his brother or his brother has a right upon him, then he makes haste to

establish justice in that affair, even if this may cause himself difficulty.

And it is narrated that al-Fudail bin 'Iyaad said to Sufyaan bin 'Uyaynah "If you wish that

the people are similar to you then you have not offered to Allaah, the Most Generous, the

True Naseehah [sincerity - see Hadeeth 7], so how will it be if you love that they are less

than you ?"

And some of the 'Ulamaa have said based upon this Hadeeth that the believer with another

believer is like a single soul, and so it is desired that he loves for him that which he loves for

himself, since they are as though a single soul. And similar to this has come in another

hadeeth : "The Believers are like a single body; if a single limb feels pain, then the whole

body along with it suffers with fever and sleeplessness."

Summary :

The hadeeth negates the perfection/completeness of Faith (eemaan) for someone who

does not wish for his Muslim brother that which he likes for himself

That a believer will not want something to happen to another Muslim which he

would not like for himself

Hadeeth 14 : The Prohibition of the Blood of a Muslim

and the Reasons for Shedding it

٠شذ أ ال ]ال ٠ؾ د اشء غ ): لبي سعي هللا ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص : ػ اث غؼد سظ هللا ػ ، لبي

اـضـ١ـت اــضا ، اــفـظ ثـبفظ ، : إال ثـئؽـذ صـالس [إ إال هللا ، أ سعي هللا

. (اـزـبسن ـذ ٠ــ اــفـبسق ـغــبػـخ

["1676: سل ] ، غ [ 6878: سل ]سا اجخبس

On the authority of Ibn Mas'ood (radiAllaahu anhu) who said : The Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said :

It is not permissible to spill the blood of a Muslim except in three [instances] : the

married person who commits adultery, a life for a life, and the one who forsakes his

religion and separates from the community.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim.


And in some of the narrations of this hadeeth, that are also agreed upon by al-Bukhaaree and

Muslim, it mentions : "It is not permissible to spill the blood of a Muslim who testifies that

there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that I am the Messenger of Allaah,

except in three [instances] ...". So his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "testifies that

none is worthy of worship except Allaah and I am the Messenger of Allaah" is as though a

tafseer (explanation) of his statement "a Muslim". Similarly, his statement "[who] separates

from the community" is like a tafseer of his statement "who forsakes his religion". So in

these three instances the blood of a Muslim can be spilt, from a textual evidence. And the

meaning of the 'community' (al-jamaa'ah) is the community of Muslims. So separating from

the Muslims by apostacy from the Religion of Islaam is a reason for the permissibilty of

shedding his blood.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "the one who forsakes his religion and

separates from the community" is general and refers to all those who apostate from Islaam,

by whichever method this may occur, and it then becomes obligatory on the Muslims to kill

him unless he returns to Islaam.

And the scholars have mentioned that this also includes all those who leave [being of] the

community of Muslims through an innovation or transgression or other than that, and Allaah

knows best. [Note: It would appear that this innovation or transgression must be of a very

serious nature, such that the perpetrator would effectively leave the fold of Islaam]

And what is apparent is that this is a general rule [ie. killing a Muslim is only allowed in

these three instances], but it also includes certain specific situations such as an attacker or

similar to that. In such cases, then it is permissible to kill a Muslim out of defence from

harm from him - indeed it may be that this becomes obligatory, as such an attacker comes

under those who have separated from the community. And also, the meaning here is that

killing a Muslimintentionally is not permitted except in these three instances, and Allaah

knows best.

And some of the 'ulamaa have used this hadeeth to show that the one who abandons the

Prayer (salaah) is killed, because the one who abandons the Prayer is included amongst

these three. And the scholars have differed over this issue, so from them are those who say

that the one who abandons the Prayer becomes a disbeliever (kaafir) while others say that he

does not. And some of those who rule that he becomes a kaafir use as a proof another

hadeeth in the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said "I have been ordered to fight the

people until they testify that none is worthy of worship except Allaah, and that I am the

Messenger of Allaah, and they establish the Prayer (salaah) and pay the poor due (zakaah)".

So it is said: "the angle of derivation of proof is that the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam made protection based upon fulfilling all of these conditions - the two shahaadahs,

establishing the salaah and paying the zakaah. And the consequence of these things

(protection) is not attained except by fulfilling all of them, and is negated by the absence of

any one of them." And this is what is obtained if we consider only the apparent speech of the

Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam where he said "I have been ordered to fight the people

...", as this seems to indicate an order to fight until the goal is obtained. However, [in taking

such an understanding] it is forgotton and overlooked that there is a difference between

muqaatalah (fighting) over something, and qatl (killing) over it. For in fighting over

something the purpose is to obtain what is desired [that they return to the Prayer] in any way

that may occur, and it does imply the necessity of killing the one who leaves the Prayer, as

long as they do not fight us, and Allaah knows best.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "the married person who commits

adultery" then this includes both males and females, and it is a proof for that which is agreed

upon by the Muslims that the ruling for the adulterer is stoning to death, with its conditions,

as are mentioned in the books of Fiqh.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "a life for a life" is in agreement with the

statement of Allaah ta'aalaa "And we have prescribed for them in it (the Tawraat) : a life for

a life" [al-Maa'idah, 45]. And its meaning is those who are equivalent in Islaam and

Freedom, due to the statement of the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) "A Muslim is

not killed [in requittal] for a kaafir". And also, Freedom is a condition for equality according

to Imaams Maalik, ash-Shaafi'ee and Ahmad. [ie. A free man cannot be killed for a slave]

However, the scholars of Ahl-ur-Rayy [The People of Opinion - a reference to the scholars

of the Hanafee madhhab] have taken the position that a Muslim is killed for a dhimmee [a

non-Muslim who pays the jizyaa, and lives under the protection of a Muslim state] and that

a free man is killed for a slave, and they use this hadeeth as a proof. But the jamhoor

(majority of the scholars) have ruled opposite to this.

Summary :

That a Muslim can be killed legally only for three crimes : a) adultery b) murder and

c) apostacy

Hadeeth 15 : Islaamic Manners

ـ وـب ٠ـؤ ): ػ أث ـش٠ـشح سظ هللا ػـ ، ا سعــي هللا ص هللا ػـ١ عــ لــبي

ثبهلل اـ١ـ األخـش فــ١ـمـ خـ١ـشا أ ـ١ـصــذ ، ـ وــب ٠ـؤ ثبهلل ا١ـ األخش فـ١ىش

. (عبس ، وب ٠ؤ ثبهلل ا١ األخش ف١ىش ظ١ف

[47: سل ] ، غ [ 6018: سل ]سا اجخبس

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Let him who believes in Allaah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let

him who believes in Allaah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour; and let

him who believes in Allaah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.



His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Let him who believes in Allaah and the Last

Day" means the one who believes with the complete Eemaan that will save him from the

Punishment of Allaah, and will attain for him the Pleasure of Allaah; then for such a

person, "let him speak good, or keep silent", because the one who believes in Allaah and

does not fulfill everything that his Eemaan entails [ie. he falls into sin] then he fears His

Threat [of Punishment] and he hopes in His reward, and he strives in performing what he

has been commanded with, and in leaving that which he has been forbidden from. And the

most important of what is upon him from this is being careful about his tongue and limbs,

which are under his control, and which he will be asked about on the Day of Standing, as

Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of those

you will be questioned (by Allaah)" [al-Israa', 36]. And Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "Not a

word does he (or she) utter, but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it)" [Qaaf, 18].

And the sins of the tongue are numerous, and because of this the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam said : "And what is it that throws the people into the Hellfire upon their noses,

except what their tongues have harvested" and he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has said

: "Everything that the son of Aadam speaks will be a proof against him, except the dhikr of

Allaah and his ordering the good and forbidding the evil". So whosoever understands this,

and protects the rights of his Eemaan, then he will fear Allaah and have taqwaa of Him with

regards to his tongue, and he will not speak except with good, or will remain silent.

Some of the 'ulamaa have mentioned that all of the Good Manners can be derived from four

hadeeth, and they mentioned amongst them this hadeeth. And some them have said

regarding the meaning of this hadeeth that if a person wishes to say something, then if that

speech is good, and will surely be rewarded for, then let him say it. And if not, then let him

keep silent - whether it is apparent that the speech is Haraam (forbidden) or Makrooh

(disliked) or even Mubaah (permissible). So from this it is said that the permissible speech is

to be left and avoided, and rather it is preferred to keep silent in such situations, out of fear

that it may turn into something which is Haraam or Makrooh; and it is seen that this happens

a great deal, and thus Allaah has said :"Not a word does he (or she) utter, but there is a

watcher by him ready (to record it)" [Qaaf, 18].

However, the 'ulamaa have differed over whether everything that a person says is written

down by the Recording Angels, including that which is considered Mubaah (permissible), or

if it is only those things for which he may be rewarded or punished. And Ibn 'Abbaas

(radiAllaahu anhu) and others have adopted this second opinion, and so in this case the

aayah mentioned above would have its meaning restricted to those words or statements for

which there is some kind of recompense - good or bad.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "let him be generous to his

neighbour" and "let him be generous to his guest" contains instruction on the rights of the

neighbours and guests, and on doing good to them and encouragement upon protecting the

limbs from doing harm to them, and also Allaah ta'aalaa has advised us in His Noble Book

with Ihsaan (good behaviour, kindness, good treatment) towards the neighbours. And the

Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam has said : "Jibreel - alayhi as-salaam - did not cease to

advise me regarding the rights of the neighbour, until I began to think that they would also

receive a part of the inheritance".

And hospitality is from Islaam, and from the character of the Prophets and the Pious. And

some of the scholars have made it obligatory, though the majority consider it to be from the

noble, recommended traits of character. And the author of "al-Ifsaah" has said regarding this

hadeeth :

"It should be believed that hospitality to the guest is a means of attaining nearness to Allaah,

and that it is a form of worship of the Lord, and that this worship is not decreased if the

guest is a wealthy person (rather than a poor man), nor is it affected if one presents for ones

guest simple things from what one posseses. Rather, the correct hospitality is achieved by

keeping a smiling countenace for ones guest, and beautifying ones conversation with him,

and the Pillar of Hospitality is preparing a meal for the guest; and so one should be eager to

prepare for him from what Allaah has provided and made easy, without causing oneself

undue difficulty."

He then mentioned some other points on hospitality, before saying :

"And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement 'let him speak good or keep silent',

then this indicates that the Good Speech is better than keeping silent, and that silence is

better than Evil Speech, and this is because the form of the Prophet's (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) statement contains a command. And from the Good Speech is conveying knowledge

from Allaah 'azza wa jall and his Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, and teaching the

Muslims, and commanding the good, and forbidding the evil, and reconciling the differences

between people, and speaking well to the people, and from amongst the best of speech is the

Statement of Truth, for the one who truly Fears and Hopes for the Recompense."

Summary :

That one should only speak what is good and true

That one must not under any circumstances speak evil or use filthy language

That one should be kind and generous to ones neighbour

That one should treat ones guest well

That if one is a true Muslim then one would do the above, else ones [true] belief in

Allaah and the Last Day is in question

Hadeeth 16 : The Forbiddance of Anger

أصــ : ػــ أثـ ـش٠ـشح سظ هللا ػـــ ، ا سعــال لـــبي ــج ص هللا ػــ١ـ عــ

. (ال رغعت ): فشدد شاسا ، لبي (ال رغعت ):لبي .

[6116: سل ]سا اجخبس

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu),

That a man said to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam : "Counsel me", so he


Do not become angry.

The man repeated [his request for counsel] several times, and he (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) said :

Do not become angry.



The author of "al-Ifsaah min al-Jaa'iz" said that the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam

recognised in this man considerable anger, so he singled out for him this particular advice.

And the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam has praised the one who is able to control

himself at the time of anger, and has said"The powerful man is not the one who is able to

wrestle, but the powerful man is the one who is able to control himself at the time of anger".

And Allaah ta'aalaa has also praised such a person where He says : "those who repress their

anger, and who pardon others" [aal-'Imraan, 134]. And it is narrated from the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) that he said : "Whoever represses his anger while he is able

to express it and is not in the wrong, then Allaah 'azza wa jall will call him amongst the best

of Creation on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be allowed to choose whoever he wishes

from amongst the Hoor."

And it has also been narrated in another hadeeth : "Verily anger is from Shaytaan", and it is

because of this that the angry person is no longer able to deal justly, and he speaks

falsehood, and he takes on many blameworthy characteristics, and he takes into his heart

feelings of hatred and malice and other than that of the despicable, forbiddden

characteristics - and all of this is from anger, may Allaah protect us from it. And it has been

narrated in the hadeeth of Sulaymaan bin Sarud : "Verily seeking refuge with Allaah from

Shaytaan, the outcast, causes the anger to recede." And this is because Shaytaan is the one

who beautifies anger and all other such blameworthy affairs, for Shaytaan always tries to

mislead man and keep him away from the Pleasure of Allaah 'azza wa jall, and so seeking

refuge with Allaah from him is one of the strongest weapons available to repel his evil

designs.

Summary :

That one can simply ask for advice or counsel from a teacher

That one must not become angry because of impatience

That the teacher may delay in responding to the question

That the teacher can be asked the same question serveral times

That the teacher can respond with the same answer each time

Hadeeth 17 : The Command to Slaughter and Kill in the

Best Manner

إ ): ػـ أث ٠ؼـ شـذاد ثـ اط سظ هللا ػـ ، ػـ اـشعـي ص هللا ػـ١ ع لـبي

هللا وزت اإلؽـغـب ػـ وــ شء ، فـئرا لـزــز فـأؽغـا امـزـخ ، إرا رثـؾـز فـأؽغا ازثؾخ

. (، ١ؾذ أؽـذو شـفـشرـ ، ـ١ـشػ رثـ١ـؾـز

[1955: سل ]سا غ

On the authority of Abu Ya'laa Shaddaad bin Aws (radiAllaahu anhu), that the Messenger of

Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said :

Verily Allaah has prescribed Ihsaan (proficiency, perfection) in all things. So if you

kill then kill well; and if you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let each one of you

sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.

It was related by Muslim


The Arabic terms "al-qitlah" and "adh-dhibhah", used for killing and slaughtering

respectively, refer to the manner and situation of the performance of these acts.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "then kill well" is general to all situations,

whether it be slaughtering animals, or killing a human in Qisaas (equal retaliation) or killing

as a Shari'ah Punishment, or other than that.

This hadeeth is from the Comprehensive Statements of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam, and contains many Principles. And the meaning of "killing well" is that one exerts

himself the utmost in performing it well, and does not intend to cause unnecessary pain or

torment through it. And "slaughtering well" in respect to livestock implies that one shows

kindness to the animal to be slaughtered, and that one does not fell it to the ground cruelly or

harshly, nor drag it from one place to another. It also includes facing it towards the Qiblah

and taking the name of Allaah upon it, and cleanly and quickly cutting the throat and the two

jugular veins, and then leaving it until it has turned cold. And it also includes recognising

and acknowledging Allaah's favours upon us, and thanking Him and being grateful to Him

for them, for verily He - subhaanahu - has subdued for us from amongst His creation

whatever pleases Him, and has made Permissible for us what He could have made

Forbidden, if He had so wished.

Summary :

That it is obligatory on one doing something to do it in the best possible way

That even killing must be done efficiently and well

That the knife must be sharpened before using it for slaughtering an animal

That sparing unnecessary suffering to the animal to be slaughtered is part of

fulfilling the Deen

That one must try to do everything in life in the best and most efficient manner

possible

Hadeeth 18 : Good Character

ػـ أث رس عــذة ثـ عــبدح ، أث ػـجذ اـشؽــ ؼـبر ثـ عـجـ سظ هللا ػـب ، ػـ

ارـك هللا ؽ١ضب وذ ، أرجغ اغ١ئخ اؾغخ رؾب ، خبك ): اشعي ص هللا ػـ١ ع ، لـبي

. (ابط ثخــك ؽـغـ

ؽغ صؾ١ؼ: ؽذ٠ش ؽغ ، ف ثؼط اغخ : لبي [ 1987: سل ]سا ازشز

On the authority of Abu Dharr Jundub ibn Junaadah, and Abu 'Abd-ir-Rahmaan Mu'aadh

bin Jabal (radiAllaahu anhumaa) that the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) said :

Have Taqwaa (Fear) of Allaah wherever you may be, and follow up a bad deed with a

good deed which will wipe it out, and behave well towards the people.

It was related by at-Tirmidhee, who said it was a Hasan (Good) Hadeeth, and in some copies

it is stated to be a Hasan Saheeh Hadeeth.


The virtues and outstanding traits of Abu Dharr (radiAllaahu anhu) are many. He accepted

Islaam while the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was still in Makkah,

and was instructed by him to return to and keep close to his tribe [in order to call them to

Islaam]. However, when the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) saw in him a great

eagerness to remain with him in Makkah, and knowing that he would not be able to do so

[due to the torment of the Quraysh], he said to Abu Dharr : "Have Taqwaa (Fear) of Allaah

wherever you may be, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed which will wipe it out",

and this is in accordance with the statement of Allaah ta'aalaa "Verily, the good deeds

remove the evil deeds" [Hood, 114].

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and behave well towards the

people" means that one should treat the people the way one would like them to treat oneself.

And know that "Verily the heaviest thing to be placed in the Scales [on the Day of

Accounting] will be the Good Character/Behaviour". And the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) is reported to have said "Verily the most loved of you by me

and the closest of you to me on the Day of Resurrection are the best of you in

Character" [related by at-Tabaraanee, but judged weak by al-Haafidh al-Mundhiree in at-

Targheeb wa at-Tarheeb]. And good character is from the characteristics of the Prophets and

Messengers and the chosen ones from amongst the Believers - those who do not retaliate

with evil, but rather forgive and pardon and behave well despite being treated badly.

Summary :

That one must remember Allaah with Fear no matter where he may be

That one must do a good act to cover up each bad act that he commits

That a Muslim must behave well towards others

Hadeeth 19 : Be Mindful of Allaah and Allaah will

Protect You

وـذ خــف اج ص هللا ػـ١ : ػـ أث اؼـجبط ػـجذ هللا ث ػـجبط سظ هللا ػـب ، لــبي

اؽـفـظ هللا ٠ـؾـفـظـه ، اؽـفـظ هللا رغذ : إ اػـه وــبد ! ٠ـب غـال ): ع ٠ـب ، فـمـبي

رغبـه ، إرا عـأذ فـبعأي هللا ، إرا اعـزؼـذ فـبعـزـؼـ ثبهلل ، اػـ أ األـخ ـ اعـزـؼـذ

ػـ أ ٠ــفـؼـن ثشء ٠ــفـؼـن إال ثشء لـذ وـزـجـ هللا ه ، إ اعزؼـا ػـ أ

٠ـعـشن ثشء ـ ٠ـعـشن إال ثشء لـذ وـزـجـ هللا ػــ١ـه ؛ سفـؼـذ األلــال ، عـفـذ

. (اـصـؾـف

. ؽذ٠ش ؽغ صؾ١ؼ : لبي [ 2516: سل ]سا ازشز

اؽفظ هللا رغذ أبه ، رؼشف إ هللا ف اشخبء ٠ؼشفه ف اشذح ، ): ف سا٠خ غ١ش ازشز

اػ أ ب أخطأن ٠ى ١ص١جه ، ب أصبثه ٠ى ١خطئه ، اػ ا اصش غ اصجش ،

(ا افشط غ اىشة ، ا غ اؼغش ٠غشا

On the authority of Abu 'Abbaas 'Abdillaah bin 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) who said :

One day I was behind the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) [riding on the same mount]

and he said :

O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be Mindful of Allaah and

Allaah will protect you. Be Mindful of Allaah and you will find Him in front of you. If

you ask, then ask Allaah [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allaah

[alone]. And know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with

anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allaah had already prescribed

for you. And if they were to gather together to harm you with anything, they would

not harm you except with what Allaah had already prescribed against you. The Pens

have been lifted and the Pages have dried.

It was related by at-Tirmidhee, who said it was a Good and Sound Hadeeth.

Another narration, other than that of Tirmidhee, reads :

Be Mindful of Allaah, and you will find Him in front of you. Recognise and

Acknowledge Allaah in times of ease and prosperity, and He will Remember you in

times of adversity. And know that what has passed you by [and you have failed to

attain] was not going to befall you, and what has befallen you was not going to pass

you by. And know that Victory comes with Patience, Relief with Affliction, and

Hardship with Ease.


The virtues and outstanding traits of 'Abdullaah bin 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) are

more than can be enumerated, and the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) supplicated

for him and said : "Oh Allaah! Grant him understanding (fiqh) of the Religion and teach him

the Interpretation", and he also supplicated for him that he be given Wisdom twice over.

And it has been narrated that he [ibn 'Abbaas] said that he "saw Jibreel (alayhi as-salaam)

twice", though this narration is mursal and is not established. And Ibn 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu

anhu) is the Ocean of Knowledge of this Ummah, and its Learned Scholar. And the

Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) considered him to be worthy of carrying

a Legacy/Advice from him despite his small age, and so he said to him : "Be Mindful of

Allaah and Allaah will protect you", and its meaning is "Be obedient to your Lord, ordering

whatever He has ordered and forbidding whatever He has forbidden".

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "Be Mindful of Allaah and you will find

Him in front of you" means "Perform your actions for His sake out of His obedience, and let

yourself not be seen to oppose or disobey Him, then you will find Allaah with you in times

of difficulty", as happened to the three men who fled to a cave to seek shelter from torrential

rain, whereupon a huge rock descended upon the entrance to the cave and sealed it. So they

said to one another : "Look to the pious actions that you have performed [in the past] and

ask Allaah ta'aalaa by them, for verily He is the only One who can save us from this." So

each one of them mentioned a good action that they had performed previously, purely for

the sake of their Lord, so Allaah removed the rock that was blocking the entrance to the

cave, and they were free from their imprisonment, and their story is well known from the

Saheeh [of Muslim]. [Note: This story shows that one of the permissible, and indeed

recommended, forms of Tawassul, or seeking Waseelah to Allaah, is through the good

actions that one has performed.]

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "If you ask, then ask Allaah [alone]; and

if you seek help, then seek help from Allaah [alone]" guides us to having Trust and Reliance

upon our Protector, and that we should not take any Ilaah (object of Worship) except Him,

and that we should not depend upon or be attached to anyone other than Him in all our

affairs, no matter how small they may be. And Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "And whosoever

puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him" [at-Talaaq, 3].

So according to the degree by which a person relies upon other than Allaah ta'aalaa in his

desires and by his heart, or in his hopes, then proportionately he has turned away from his

Lord to those who cannot hurt him nor benefit him. And similarly in the case of Fear of

other than Allaah, and the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) emphasised this when he

said : "And know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything,

they would not benefit you except with what Allaah had already prescribed for you", and

similarly in the case of harm. And this is the essence of Eemaan in Qadr, and having eemaan

in it is obligatory, the good of it and the evil of it. And once a Believer has conviction

(yaqeen) in this then he sees no benefit in asking from other than Allaah or seeking help

from them. And similar to this is the answer of al-Khaleel [Ibraaheem] alayhi as-salaam, to

the question of Jibreel (alayhi as-salaam) when he was in the air having been thrown

towards the Great Fire : "Do you have any need ?" to which he replied : "As for from you,

then no. As for from Allaah, then definitely."

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "The Pens have been lifted and the Pages

have dried" further emphasises what has preceeded, and there is no contradiction with that

by way of abrogation or change.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "And know that Victory comes with

Patience, Relief with Affliction, and Hardship with Ease" informs him [Ibn 'Abbaas] to take

note that Man in this World will be presented with trials and misfortunes, especially the

Pious, due to the statement of Allaah 'azza wa jall :

155. And certainly, We shall test you with something

of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but

give glad tidings to As-Saabireen (the patient ones)

156. Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly!

To Allaah we belong and truly, to Him we shall

return." 157. They are those on whom are the

Salawaat (blessings) from their Lord, and (they are

those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are

the guided-ones.

[al-Baqarah, 155-157]

and Allaah ta'aalaa has also said :

Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards

in full, without reckoning.

[az-Zumar, 10]

Summary :

That it is allowed for two people to be seated on a mount if it does not over-burden

the animal

That if one takes care about Allaah's Rights, then He takes care of him

That if one takes care of Allaah's Rights, then He helps him

That one must ask of Allaah only, and seek His help only

That we cannot be harmed or benefitted by anything or anyone, no matter how large

they are in number or strong they appear, except by that which Allaah allows

That what Allaah has allowed in our destiny will definitely occur

That one should remember and take care of Allaah's Rights in times of ease, and

Allaah will take care of him in times of difficulty

That Victory comes with Patience

That relief comes after suffering

That ease comes after hardship

Hadeeth 20 : Modesty is from Eemaan

لبي سعي هللا ص هللا : ػ أث غؼد ػمجخ ث ػش األصبس اجذس سظ هللا ػ لبي

. (إرا رغزؼ فبصغ ب شئذ : إ ب أدسن ابط وال اجح األ ): ػ١خ ع

[3483: سل ]سا اجخبس

On the authority of Abu Mas'ood 'Uqbah bin 'Amr al-Ansaaree al-Badree (radiAllaahu anhu)

who said : The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Verily, from what was learnt by the people from the speech of the Earliest Prophecy is

: If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree


The meaning of his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "From the speech of the

Earliest Prophecy" is that modesty has always been considered praiseworthy, commendable

and ordered with, and has never been abrogated in the teachings and Laws of the earlier

Prophets.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "then do as you wish" has two angles to it

:

The first of them is that it is not an order to do as we please, but rather it is a warning or

threat that if we do so then we shall have to face the consequences. And this is similar to the

statement of Allaah ta'aalaa with reference to the Disbelievers : "Do what you will"

[Fussilat, 40]. And this is a threat to them as it has been made clear to them what will come

about as a result of their disbelief. And this is also similar to the statement of the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) "Whoever sells alcohol then let him also make permissible

the eating of swine" - and, clearly, there is not in this permission to eat the flesh of pigs !

The second is that if a person does not have any modesty or shame, then let him come

forward and openly perform every single shameful act without any reservation. And similar

to this is his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "Modesty is from Eemaan (faith)".

Its meaning is that modesty prevents a person from committing shameful and evil deeds, but

rather encourages him towards piety and good actions; just as a person's Eemaan (faith)

prevents him from committing such acts, and instead encourages him upon obedience [of the

Lord]. Thus, modesty attains the station and position of Eemaan, through its being

equivalent to Eemaan in this.


Summary :

That people are generally alright until they corrupt themselves

That when one has remained pure one can trust one's conscience

Hadeeth 21 : Say 'I believe in Allaah' and then be

Steadfast

On the authority of Aboo 'Amr - and he is also called Aboo 'Amrah - Sufyaan bin Abdillaah

ath-Thaqafee (radiAllaahu anhu) who said :

I said : "O Messenger of Allaah, tell me something about al-Islaam which I can ask of

no one but you."

He said : "Say: I believe in Allaah - and then be Steadfast"



The meaning of his (radiAllaahu anhu) statement "tell me something about al-Islaam which

I can ask of no one but you" is that he is asking the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

to teach him a comprehensive statement about the meaning of al-Islaam, that is clear in and

of itself, and does not require any further explanation by anyone other than the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), such that he may act upon it and protect himself (from the

Fire) with it. So the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) replied to his question with his

statement : "Say: I believe in Allaah - and then be Steadfast".

This is from the Complete and Comprehensive Speech that has been given to our Messenger

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), for verily he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has combined,

for the questioner, in these two phrases the complete meanings of al-Islaam and al-Eemaan.

For verily these words instruct one to renew one's Eemaan through the tongue and the

remembrance of the heart, and they instruct one to remain steadfast (have Istiqaamah) upon

performing the actions of Obedience and to refrain completely from all the actions of

Disobedience, since it is not possible to establish al-Istiqaamah while at the same time

having some element of crookedness and disobedience, as this is its opposite. And this is

similar to His statement : "Verily, those who say: 'Our Lord is Allaah', and then they remain

steadfast upon that" [Fussilat, 30], ie they believe in Allaah alone, and then they remain

steadfast upon that, and upon His obedience, until Allaah takes their souls and they are still

upon that. 'Umar bin al-Khattaab (radiAllaahu anhu) said : "They are steadfast upon the

obedience of Allaah, and they do not swerve away from that with the evasions of the fox".

And its meaning is that they are firm upon most of what Allaah has ordered, from the

matters of Belief, Speech and Action. And they persist upon that, and this is the meaning of

the explanation given by most of the scholars of Tafseer, and it is the meaning of the

hadeeth, in shaa' Allaah ta'aalaa.

And similarly the statement of Allaah subhaanahu : "So stand (O Muhammad SAW) firm

and straight (on the religion of Islaam) as you are commanded" [Hood, 112]. Ibn 'Abbaas

(radiAllaahu anhu) said that no other verse from the entire Qur'aan was revealed upon the

Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) that was harder upon him than this verse. And due

to this he sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said : "(The Soorah) Hood and its companions have

made my hair white". And Aboo Bakr (radiAllaahu anhu) has narrated that he (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam) said : "My hair has been made white by (Soorahs) Hood, and al-Waaqi'ah,

and al-Mursalaat, and 'Amma yatasaa'aloon, and Idha ash-Shamsu Kuwwirat".

al-Ustaadh Aboo al-Qaasim al-Qushairee (rahimahu Allaahu ta'aalaa) said : al-Istiqaamah is

a station by which is achieved the perfection of the affairs, and their completion, and with its

presence one attains all that is good and in order. And he who does not attain Istiqaamah in

his endeavour then he has lost that endeavour and all good fortune.

And it is said : al-Istiqaamah is not sustained except by the elders and seniors [in the Deen],

because it involves keeping away from the common [incorrect] practises of the [ignorant]

people. And it involves difference and separation from the [incorrect] customs and traditions

of the people, and instead standing firm between the Hands of Allaah ta'aalaa upon the

Reality of Truth, and due to this the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said "Be

steadfast [in your actions] and do not count/enumerate [your good actions, which may cause

you to limit them]. And know that the best of your actions is the Prayer, and none except the

[true] Believer takes care to maintain his wudoo'". And al-Waasitee (rahimahu Allaah) said

: "al-Istiqaamah is a trait such that with it all the good qualities are perfected, and without it

they are all disfigured."


Summary :

That only the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) fully understood

the essence and worth of worshipping Allaah truly

That one must truly believe that Allaah is his Lord whom he worships, and then stay

upright and steadfast upon that belief, and that covers the whole religion

That keeping Upright / Steadfast is following the injunctions that have come from

Allaah in Whom he trusts and Whom he worships and Whom he takes as the highest

authority

Hadeeth 22 : Confinement to the Obligatory Deeds is

Sufficient to be Entered into Paradise

On the authority of Abu 'Abdillaah Jaabir bin 'Abdillaah al-Ansaaree (radiAllaahu anhumaa)

that :

A man questioned the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and said :

Do you think that if I perform the obligatory Prayers, fast in Ramadaan, treat as lawful

that which is Halaal, and treat as forbidden that which is Haraam, and do not increase

upon that [in voluntary good deeds], then shall I enter Paradise ?

He (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) replied : Yes


And the meaning of 'treat as forbidden the Haraam' is to stay away from it, and the meaning

of 'treat as lawful the Halaal' is to perform it believing it to be permissible.


This man who questioned the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was an-Nu'maan bin

Qawqal. The Shaykh Aboo 'Amr bin as-Salaah (rahimahu Allaah) said : "What is apparent

from his statement 'treat as forbidden that which is Haraam' is two issues. The first : that he

believes those things to be forbidden. The second : that he does not perform those actions,

which is different from the case of treating the Halaal as permissible, as in the latter case it

is sufficient to believe that they are permissible [without actually performing all of them]."

The author of al-Mufham said that in this hadeeth the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

did not mention to the questioner any of the voluntary actions, and this is a proof indicating

the permissibility of leaving all of the voluntary actions. But the one who does so, and does

not perform anything from the voluntary deeds, has deprived his soul of a tremendous profit

and an immense reward. And the one who persists upon leaving something from the Sunnah

is considered to have a deficiency in his Religion, and an impairment to his decency and

justice. And if his leaving it is due to disdain or indifference to it, or due to his detesting it,

then this is considered to be fisq (sinfulness) that is deserving of punishment.

And our scholars have said : If the people of a land come to an agreement upon the leaving

of a Sunnah, then they must be fought against until they return back to it. And the leaders

from amongst the Sahaabah (radiAllaahu anhum) and those who followed them would

persevere upon performing the voluntary deeds, and these would make easy persistence

upon the obligatory deeds, and they would not distinguish between the voluntary and the

obligatory in trying to attain reward.

And here the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) left out the Sunan and other voluntary

acts in his advice to the man to make the Religion easy for him, due to his having recently

accepted Islaam, as excessive obligations may have alienated him from the Religion. And he

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) knew that if the man established himself upon Islaam and if

Allaah opened his heart to the Deen, then he would, of his own accord, seek those voluntary

actions which the other Muslims sought. Also, it is possible that the Prophet (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam) did not mention the voluntary deeds in his advice so that the man would

not wrongly assume that such actions are also obligatory.

And similarly in another hadeeth :

A man asked the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) about the Salaah (Prayer), so he

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) told him that they are five. So the man said : "Am I required

to perform any more [other than these five] ?" to which the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) replied "No, except that which you perform voluntarily". Then the man asked about

the Fasting, and the Hajj and other prescribed matters, and the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) answered him [in a similar manner]. Then at the end of this the man said : "By

Allaah, I will not increase upon this, nor will I perform less than it", to which the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "He will be Successful if he is truthful", and in another

narration "If he holds onto that which he has been commanded with then he will enter

Paradise".

And the Sunan and voluntary deeds have been prescribed to complete and beautify the

Obligatory deeds. So in the case of this questioner, and the one mentioned before him, the

Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) did not include in his advice the voluntary deeds in

order to make the Religion easy for them, until their own understanding of the Deen

increased, which would then lead to a desire to attain the reward of the voluntary deeds.

So he who preserves the deeds obligatory upon him, and performs them in their time,

without leaving anything from them or violating any of their requisites, then he will attain a

tremendous and immense Success - may Allaah grant us that. And similarly, he who comes

with the obligatory deeds and then follows that up with additional voluntary deeds will

achieve a Success even greater than the first.

Summary :

The hadeeth is self-explanatory and clear

That Paradise is guaranteed for him who fulfills his Prayer and Fasting in the right

way, with faith and perfect submission, and without asscociating any partners with

Him, together with treating as lawful those things that are so, and treating as

forbidden those things that are so

That some things become an obligation to be done or avoided under certain

circumstances and given certain conditions, and those things are included in the

hadeeth too

That treating as lawful that which is lawful and treating as forbidden that which is

forbidden essentially covers the practising of the whole of the Deen

That fulfilling the conditions of this hadeeth for Paradise is the upholding of

Tawheed by the Worshipper in his life

Hadeeth 23 : Hastening to do Good

On the authority of Abu Maalik al-Haarith bin al-Haarith al-Ash'aree (radiAllaahu anhu)

who said : The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Purity is half of Eemaan (Faith). 'al-Hamdu lillaah' [Praise be to Allaah] fills the

scales, and 'subhaanAllaah' [How far is Allaah from every imperfection] and 'al-

Hamdu lillaah' fill that which is between heaven and earth. And the Salaah (Prayer) is

a Light, and charity is a Proof, and Patience is Illumination, and the Qur'aan is a Proof

either for you or against you. Every person starts his day as a vendor of his soul, either

freeing it or causing its ruin.



This hadeeth is a Principle from amongst the Principles of Islaam, and it encompasses

within it many important matters and fundamental principles of the Deen.

As for 'Purity' then what is intended here is the action. The 'ulemaa have differed over the

meaning of the phrase 'Purity is half of Eemaan', so some have said that it means that the

reward of purifying oneself is such that it reaches half the reward of Eemaan, and some have

said that the meaning of Eemaan here is the Salaah (Prayer). As Allaah ta'aalaa has said

: "And Allaah would never let your eemaan (prayers offered towards Jerusalem, before

Makkah was made the Qiblah) to be lost" [Soorah al-Baqarah, 143]. And purity is a

condition for the correctness of the Prayer, so it becomes like a part of it, and it is not

necessary that a part of something is really half of it. And others have said other than this.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "'al-Hamdu lillaah' [Praise be to

Allaah] fills the scales" then its meaning is that due to the great reward for reciting the

Praise of Allaah, the scale of good deeds of the worshipper is filled. And it is apparent from

the texts of the Qur'aan and the Sunnah that the deeds of the slave will be weighed on the

Day of Judgement, and will either be heavy or light.

And similar to this is his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and 'subhaanAllaah'

[How far is Allaah from every imperfection] and 'al-Hamdu lillaah' fill that which is

between heaven and earth" and the reason for its great virtue is that it combines within it the

denial for Allaah of all forms of deficiency and imperfection, and establishes our complete

dependence upon Him and need of Him.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "the Salaah (Prayer) is a Light" means that

it prevents a person from sin, forbids him from fahshaa' (lusts) and guides him towards that

which is Right, just as one uses a light to illuminate ones way. And it has also been said that

it means that its reward will be a light for the worshipper on the Day of Resurrection, or that

it will be a clear and apparent light on the face of the worshipper on the Day of

Resurrection, and also in this life in the form of beauty and radiance in his face. And this is

the opposite of those who do not Pray, and Allaah knows best.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "charity is a Proof" then the author

of at-Tajreed said : Its meaning is that safety and refuge is sought through it, just as safety

and refuge is sought through proofs [of the truth]. And when the slave will be asked on the

Day of Resurrection about how he spent his wealth, then his spending in charity will be a

proof for him in answering that question, so he will say "I spent it in charity".

And others have said that its meaning is that charity is a proof showing the eemaan of the

giver, since the hypocrite does not give charity as he does not believe in its prescription or

benefit. So whoever spends in charity, then this is an indication of the strength of his

eemaan, and Allaah knows best.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and Patience is Illumination" then

it refers to that Patience which is loved and recommended by the Sharee'ah, and that is

Patience upon obedience of Allaah ta'aalaa, and Patience upon avoiding His disobedience.

And it also includes Patience with the different difficulties that one must face in the world.

And the implication of all this is that Patience is praiseworthy, and always shows the correct

path, and always guides to that which is right.

Ibraaheem al-Khawaas (rahimahu Allaah) said : Patience is having steadfastness upon the

Qur'aan and the Sunnah. And it is said that patience is restraining oneself in times of

difficulty with the best manner and character. And Abu 'Alee ad-Diqaaq (rahimahu Allaah)

said that patience is not remonstrating against that which Allaah decrees for us. However,

making apparent ones difficulty through complaining [to Allaah] about it does not negate

ones patience. For Allaah ta'aalaa said about Ayyoob (alayhi as-salaam) "Truly! We found

him patient. How excellent a slave! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us)!"

[Soorah Saad, 44], while also saying "And (remember) Ayoob, when he cried to his Lord:

Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show

mercy." [Soorah al-Anbiyaa', 83], and Allaah knows best.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and the Qur'aan is a Proof either for

you or against you" then its meaning is clear that if one recites it and acts upon it, then one

will attain great benefit from it, and if not then it will be a proof against us.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Every person starts his day as a vendor of

his soul, either freeing it or causing its ruin" means that every person strives for his soul, so

amongst mankind are those who sell themselves for Allaah through their obeying Him, and

thus free their souls from the Punishment, as Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "Verily, Allaah has

purchased from the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be

Paradise" [Soorah at-Tawbah, 111]. And whoever sells his soul for Shaytaan and his desires

through his following them, then he has destroyed his soul.

O Allaah ! Grant us that we act in Your Obedience, and save us from destroying ourselves

through opposing You.

Summary :

That cleanliness according to the requirements of Islaam is half of Faith

That realisation and acknowledgement of Allaah as the One deserving all Praise adds

weight in our favour to the Scale of Judgment [al-Meezaan]

That the above coupled with the realisation and acknowledgement of Allaah as the

Most Perfect is of great value and ensures justice to the creation from the worshipper

That Prayer builds Faith and shows the Way

That charity is a proof of our faith which will be given credit on the Last Day

That patience in our affairs beautifies them and is a sign of wisdom

That everything is to be judged by the Qur'aan

That taking the Qur'aan as a judgement of authority either proves our case or

convicts us

That we are ourselves responsible for our actions and Paradise or Hell very much

depends on what we have done, how we have done it and with what sort of faith

Hadeeth 24 : The Forbiddence of Oppression

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifaaree (radiAllaahu anhu) from the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) from his Lord ('azza wa jall) that He said :

O My servants ! I have forbidden dhulm (oppression) for Myself, and I have made it

forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.

O My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so seek

guidance from Me and I shall guide you.

O My servants, all of of you are hungry except those whom I have fed, so seek food

from Me and I shall feed you.

O My servants, all of you are naked except those whom I have clothed, so seek

clothing from Me and I shall clothe you.

O My servants, you commit sins by day and by night, and I forgive all sins, so seek

forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you.

O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm me, and you will not

attain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the

jinn of you, were all as pious as the most pious heart of any individual amongst you,

then this would not increase My Kingdom an iota.


jinn of you, were all as wicked as the most wicked heart of any indivdual amongst

you, then this would not decrease My Kingdom an iota.


jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give

everyone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, except what

is decreased of the Ocean when a needle is dipped into it.

O My servants, it is but your deeds that I account for you, and then recompense you

for. So he who finds good, let him praise Allaah, and he who finds other than that, let

him blame no one but himself.



This hadeeth is a hadeeth where the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam narrates

something from Allaah ta'aalaa, and is referred to as a 'Hadeeth Qudsee'.

Regarding His 'azza wa jall statement "I have forbidden dhulm (oppression) for Myself, and

I have made it forbidden amongst you", some of the 'ulamaa have said thats its meaning is

: "it does not befit My Majesty and hence is not possible for Me", as Allaah ta'aalaa has said

: "But it is not befitting of (the Majesty of) the Most Beneficent (Allaah) that He should

beget a son". So dhulm is inconceivable in respect of Allaah ta'aalaa. And some of the

'ulamaa have said regarding this hadeeth : "It is not permitted for anyone to ask Allaah to

Judge against his adversary except with the Truth, from His - suhaanahu - saying : "I have

forbidden dhulm for Myself", so He - subhaanahu - does not oppress His slaves of His own

accord, so how can anyone conceive that He would oppress one of His slaves for the sake of

another one of His slaves ?"

And similarly He said : "so do not oppress one another" and this implies that the oppressed

will he avenged for the oppression committed against him.

And His statement "all of you are astray except those whom I have guided ... all of of you

are hungry except those whom I have fed ... all of you are naked except those whom I have

clothed" is a reminder of our poverty before Allaah, and our inability to bring about good for

ourselves and to fend off harm from ourselves, except by the Help of Allaah subhaanahu in

that, and this returns to the meaning of the statement : 'laa howla wa laa quwwata illaa

billaah', ie 'there is no movement or power except by the Will of Allaah'. So let the slave

know that when he sees the traces of these blessings upon himself then this is from the

blessing of Allaah, and so it is necessary for him to thank Allaah ta'aalaa for that. And for

every thing that he receives in excess of these blessings he should increase in Praise and

Thankfulness of Allaah ta'aalaa.

And His statement : "so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you", then this generally

informs the slave that when he sought guidance from his Master, then He guided him. And

even if he received guidance before he asked for it from his Lord, then he still cannot say

that he attained guidance by knowledge that he possessed. And similarly the meaning of "all

of of you are hungry ..." till the end, is that Allaah has created all of creation in a state of

poverty and need of food. So every one who eats was in a state of hunger until Allaah fed

him, by sending his rizq (sustenace) to him and perfecting the favours that had been shaped

for him. So let not the possessor of wealth think that the sustenace which he holds in his

hand and which he has raised to his mouth has been provided to him by anyone other than

Allaah ta'aalaa. And in this statement also is an indication of the required manners of the

needy - as though He said : "Do not seek sustenance from anyone other than Me, for verily

all those others from whom you might seek sustenance have themselves been provided for

by Myself. So seek sustenance from me and I will provide for you", and similarly for that

which follows this.

And His statement "you commit sins by day and by night" contains a censure against that

[sins] which every believer feels ashamed of. For Allaah has created the night to be obeyed

in, and to be worshipped sincerely in, as the deeds performed in the night are generally safe

from riyaa' (ostentation) and hypocrisy. So does not the Believer feel ashamed that he does

not spend his nights and days in the obedience of Allaah ? And also, Allaah has created

witnesses from amongst mankind too, so what is expected of every intelligent and astute

person is that he will obey Allaah, and will not openly display disobedience in front of the

people. And how can it be that a Believer would sin whether openly or secretly, for verily

Allaah subhaanaha wa ta'aalaa has said after that : "and I forgive all sins". And in the arabic

of this statement are two forms of emphasis which indicate that Allaah will forgive all forms

of sin. And He said this before His order to seek forgiveness from Him, so that no one who

has committed a sin may despair of the Mercy of Allaah, no matter how great that sin may

be.

And in His statement "if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the

jinn of you" until the end, is an indication that the taqwaa (piety) of the pious is a Mercy

granted to them, and that it does not affect or increase the Kingdom of Allaah in the least.

And as for His statement "... were all to stand together in one place" then in it is an

exhortation to the creation to lay importance upon asking Allaah and to seek from Him in all

affairs, and not to feel shy or decrease in asking Him, for verily that which is with Allaah

does not decrease and His treasures are inexhaustible, so let not anyone think that what is

with Allaah will diminish by His giving, as the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam has

explained in another hadeeth : "Allaah's Hand is Full; it is not diminished by His giving all

of the day and the night. Have you not seen that your Lord has been giving ever since He

created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that has not diminished what is in His Right Hand

by the least". And what is hidden in this is that His Qudrah (Power, Ability) is always ready

for bestowing favours upon His creation, and it is not possible that He lose the ability to do

so, or that He decrease in doing so, or that what He is able to do becomes restricted.

And His statement "except what is decreased of the Ocean when a needle is dipped into

it" is a metaphor, whose purpose is to make understood what we testify for Allaah. And its

meaning is that what is with Allaah does not decrease at all.

And His statement "it is but your deeds that I account for you, and then recompense you for.

So he who finds good, let him praise Allaah" means that the slave should not consider his

actions of obedience and worship of Allaah as being the sole result or his own nafs (soul),

but rather he should consider them to be the result of the tawfeeq (guidance, good fortune)

from Allaah, and hence he should Praise Him for that.

And He said "and he who finds other than that" and He did not say "and he who finds evil";

and the meaning of this is therefore "and he who finds anything other than that which is

best". Then, such a person should not blame anyone except himself. And Allaah emphasises

this through a nuance in the Arabic language, so that no person may think that there can be

anyone else who partly or wholly bears resposibility for his actions.


Summary :

That Allaah never oppresses

That Allaah cannot oppress

That it is Haraam for us to oppress one another

That nobody is guided unless he is guided by Allaah

That although the Guidance is to be found in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, yet one

cannot be guided by them unless Allaah turns our hearts to His worship

That it is incumbent upon us to seek His guidance

That if we sincerely seek His guidance then He will indeed guide us

That sustenace and provision is from Allaah alone

That we must seek sustenance and provision from Him Only

That He will give us sustenance and provision if we ask it of Him

That all of us are sinful to a greater or lesser extent, ie nobody is sinless

That Allaah forgives all sins except that which He says He does not forgive, and

which He has mentioned

That none can forgive sins but He

That it is obligatory to seek His forgiveness for our sins

That nobody can either harm or benefit Allaah in the least

That His Kingdom is not affected at all by all of mankind and jinn either becoming

like the best among them or the worst among them

If He were to give everyone what they requested from Him, then it would not

decrease what He possesses of treasures and bouties

That one will be judged on what he has done, so we must make sure our actions are

always acceptable to Allaah

That action is part of Eemaan

That we cannot be successful without His Guidance, Help, Protection and Mercy, so

we should always praise Him for the good that we receive

That we have no one to blame but ourselves if we end up in misery due to our bad

deeds

Hadeeth 25 : The Affluent have made off with the

Rewards

Also on the authority of Abu Dharr (radiAllaahu anhu) that some people from amongst the

Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said to the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) :

O Messenger of Allaah, the affluent have made off with the rewards; they pray as we

pray, they fast as we fast, and they give [much] in charity by virtue of their wealth.

He (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Has not Allaah made things for you to give in charity ? Truly every tasbeehah [saying:

subhaan Allaah] is a charity, and every takbeerah [saying: Allaahu akbar] is a charity,

and every tahmeedah [saying: al-hamdu lillaah] is a charity, and every tahleelah

[saying: laa ilaaha illaa Allaah] is a charity. And commanding the good is a charity,

and forbidding an evil is a charity, and in the bud'i [sexual act] of each one of you

there is a charity.

They said : O Messenger of Allaah, when one of us fulfils his carnal desire will he

have some reward for that ?!

He (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : Do you not see that if he were to act upon it

[his desire] in an unlawful manner then he would be deserving of punishment ?

Likewise, if he were to act upon it in a lawful manner then he will be deserving of a

reward.



In the arabic the word used for affluent is 'duthoor' which implies a large amount of wealth.

And in this hadeeth is an explanation of the Virtue of reciting tasbeeh and all of the other

forms of dhikr (remembrance) of Allaah, and of ordering the good and forbidding the evil,

and of ensuring that one has the intention of Pleasing Allaah even in the Mubaah

(Permissible) actions, for by having such pure intentions they turn into actions of

Obediance, deserving of reward.

And in this hadeeth is proof that it is permissible to ask a scholar about the evidence for

some of the things in the scholar's fatwaa (legal verdict) that are not apparent to the

questioner, as long as it is clear that the scholar does not dislike this and the questioning is

done in a respectful fashion.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "And commanding the good is a charity,

and forbidding an evil is a charity" is an indication that every single type of ordering the

good or forbidding the evil carries the ruling of being a charity. Indeed, it is greater than the

tasbeeh and the other forms of dhikr mentioned after it, because ordering the good and

forbidding the evil is a Fard Kifaayah (Collective Obligation), and at times it may become

obligatory upon every individual, and this is opposite to the case of the adhkaar (plural of

dhikr) mentioned previously, which are only nawaafil (voluntary deeds). And the reward of

performing the Obligatory deeds is much greater than that of the Voluntary deeds, as the

statement of Allaah 'azza wa jall in a hadeeth Qudsee indicates : "And My slave does not

come closer to Me by anything more beloved to Me than the deeds that I have Obligated

upon him" [narrated by al-Bukhaaree]. Some of the 'ulamaa have said that the reward for the

obligatory deeds is greater than that for the voluntary deeds by seventy levels, as is indicated

by some ahaadeeth.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "and in the bud'i (sexual act) of

each one of you there is a charity" then the word "bud'i" is a general term that encompasses

the meaning of intercourse and also the private parts themselves, and both of them correctly

convey the intended meaning here. And it has already been mentioned that the Mubaah

(Permissible) actions - ie not Obligatory nor Recommended - become like acts of

Obediance, which are rewarded for, through the presence of the correct intention. So the act

of intercourse also becomes an act of worship, if by it a person intends to fulfill the rights of

his wife, and to live with her in a good way, or to seek a pious child, or as a protection for

himself or his wife from illegal desires, or other than these from the praisewrothy purposes.

And their statement (radiAllaahu 'anhum) : "O Messenger of Allaah, when one of us fulfils

his carnal desire will he have some reward for that ?" and his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

reply : "Do you not see that if he were to act upon it [his desire] in an unlawful manner then

he would be deserving of punishment ?" until the end of the hadeeth, then this indicates the

permissibilty of Qiyaas (using analogy to derive rulings), and this is the madhhab of the

'ulamaa, and none are opposed to this except the Dhaahiriyyah (Literalists - referring to the

school of Daawood adh-Dhaahiree). And as for what has been narrated from some of the

Taabi'een (the generation after the Sahaabah) and from other scholars to the effect that

Qiyaas is rejected and blameworthy, then what they intended was not the Qiyaas that is

known by the Mujtahid Fuqahaa (the Jurists who make ijtihaad in deriving rulings), and this

is what is known as Qiyaas al-'Aks (literally, 'analogy of the opposite'), and the scholars of

Usool have differed over acting upon it, but this hadeeth is a proof for those who do act

upon it.

Summary :

That we should have concern for attaining the reward of Allaah

That such concern is from the characteristics of the First Generation of Muslims - the

Companions

That comparing onself to another to see how many good deeds we are performing is

permissible and recommended

That looking towards one who is rich so that we may do good things like him is

desirable

That being rich is not a bad thing in and of itself

That everyone can perform acts of charity no matter what his station in life

That remembering Allaah with words is charity

That conjugal relations with ones wife is a charity

That one is rewarded for abstaining from the unlawful, and instead adopting a way

which is lawful

Hadeeth 26 : The Virtue of Reconciling between People,

and Judging Justly between them, and Helping them

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu), who said : The Messenger of Allaah


Every joint of a person must perfom a charity each day that the sun rises : to judge

justly between two people is a charity. To help a man with his mount, lifting him onto

it or hoisting up his belongings onto it, is a charity. And the good word is a charity.

And every step that you take towards the Prayer is a charity, and removing a harmful

object from the road is a charity.



His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "every joint" is in arabic represented by the

word "sulaamaa", and this is explained as referring to the joints and limbs of the body. And

it is established from another hadeeth, collected in Saheeh Muslim, that there are three

hundred and sixty joints in the body. And Qaadee 'Iyaad has mentioned that the origin of the

word "sulaamaa" referred to the bones of the palm, fingers and feet, but then it came to be

used for all the bones of the body and its joints. And some of the 'ulamaa have explained

that the intended meaning here of "charity" is that charity which is encouraged as a means of

gaining additional reward, and is not an obligatory charity.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "to judge justly between two people is a

charity" implies that one attains reconciliation between two people in a just manner.

And in another hadeeth narrated by Muslim : "Each morning, upon every joint of a person's

body is due a charity; so every tasbeehah [subhaan Allaah] is a charity, and every tahmeedah

[alhamdu lillaah] is a charity, and every tahleelah [laa ilaaha illaa Allaah] is a charity, and

every takbeerah [Allaahu akbar] is a charity, and ordering the good is a charity, and

forbidding the evil is a charity. These dues are fulfilled by praying two rakaa's of prayer at

the time of duhaa [late morning]". So this hadeeth shows that the charity which is due on all

the joints each day is accounted for by two raka'as of prayer, for verily the Prayer is an

action that involves all of the limbs and joints of the body, so when a person prays every

bone performs its part of the whole action, and Allaah knows best.

Summary :

That it is recommended that an act of charity be done each day for every joint in the

body

That one must do so every day that one lives

That the hadeeth enumerates some deeds which can be considered as acts of charity

That one can understand these to apply to acts which are done to mediate between

people, helping someone on his travel, walking to the masjid, and making the roads

safe for others in any way

Hadeeth 27 : Righteousness is in Good Character

On the authority of an-Nawwaas bin Sam'aan (radiAllaahu anhu) that the Prophet


Righteousness is in good character/morality, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in

your soul, and which you dislike people finding out about.


And on the authority of Waabisah bin Ma'bad (radiAllaahu anhu) who said :

I came to the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and he said : "You

have come to ask about righteousness". I said : "Yes".

He said : "Consult your heart. Righteousness is that about which the soul feels at ease

and the heart feels tranquil. And wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and

causes uneasiness in the breast, even though people have repeatedly given their legal

opinion [in its favour]."


His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Righteousness (al-Birr) is in good

character/morality" means that good character is the greatest characteristic of Birr, [and not

its only characteristic]. This is similar to his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "The

Hajj is [standing in] Arafaat", ie. standing in the plain of Arafaat on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah is

the greatest part of the Hajj, but is not all of the Hajj. As for Birr then it is that which

encourages its doer to perform good righteous actions, and it is associated with the abraar

[righteous, pious individuals], and they are the ones who are obedient to Allaah 'azza wa

jall.

And what is meant by 'good character' is justice in ones dealings, and kindness and

consideration in ones endeavours, and justice in ones orders, and being generous in offering

help and other than these from the characteristics of the believers, those whom Allaah

ta'aalaa has described by saying :

"The believers are only those who, when Allaah is

mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His

Verses (this Qur'aan) are recited unto them, they

increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their

Lord alone. Who perform as-Salaat and spend out of

that which We have provided them. It is they who are

the believers in truth. For them are grades of dignity

with their Lord, and Forgiveness and a generous

provision (Paradise)." [Soorah al-Anfaal 2-4]

And Allaah has said :

"(The believers whose lives Allaah has purchased are)

those who repent to Allaah (from polytheism, sin,

etc.), who worship Him, who praise Him, who fast (or

go out in Allaah's Cause), who bow down (in prayer),

who prostrate themselves (in prayer), who enjoin

(people) with Al-Ma'roof (all what Islaam has

ordained) and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (all

that Islaam has forbidden), and who observe the limits

set by Allaah. And give glad tidings to the believers."

[Soorah at-Tawbah 112]

And He has said :

"Successful indeed are the believers. Those who offer

their Salaat with all solemnity and full

submissiveness. And those who turn away from Al-

Laghuw (dirty, false, evil, vain talk). And those who

pay the Zakaat. And those who guard their chastity.

Except from their wives or (the captives and slaves)

that their right hands possess, for then, they are free

from blame; But whoever seeks beyond that, then

those are the transgressors; Those who are faithfully

true to their Amanaat (all the duties which Allaah has

ordained, honesty, trusts etc.) and to their covenants;

And those who strictly guard their (five compulsory

congregational) Salawaat (prayers) (at their fixed

stated hours). These are indeed the inheritors [of

Paradise]." [Soorah al-Mu'minoon 1-10]

And He said :

"And the slaves of the Most Beneficent (Allaah) are

those who walk on the earth in humility and

sedateness ..." [Soorah al-Furqaan 63],

until the end of the Soorah.

So whoever is unsure of his condition should compare himself to these aayaat, and if he

finds in himself all of these good qualities then this is a sign of possessing good character,

and if he finds that he does not possess any of them then this is a sign of bad character. And

if he finds only some of them, then he should strive to retain that which he posseses and to

obtain that which he does not.

And let not one think that 'good character' is interpreted as being only gentleness, and

leaving fawaahish (lusts), and sins, and that whoever does only that has purified his

character. Rather, good character includes all that along with all the other characteristics of

the Believers that we have mentioned above.

And from good character also is patiently bearing bad treatment, as has been narrated in the

two Saheehs [of Bukhaaree and Muslim] that a bedouin pulled at the cloak of the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) until its hem left a mark upon the shoulder of the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), and he [the bedouin] said : "O Muhammad! Grant for me

from the Wealth of Allaah that is with you", so the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa salaam)

turned to him and laughed, and then ordered that he be given something.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and wrongdoing is that which wavers in

your soul, and which you dislike people finding out about"means that wrongdoing is that

thing which results in aversion/dislike in the heart, and this is a principle that is depended

upon in distinguishing sin/wrongdoing from righteousness: that sin is that thing which

wavers in the breast and the individual hates that the people should come to know of it. And

what is intended here by 'the people' is those who are equals in status and respectability, or

the best of society, and not the common riff raff. So this is what is sin/wrongdoing, so it is to

be left, and Allaah knows best.

Summary :

That righteousness is beautiful character

That one should not do good acts begrudgingly and with bad manners

That what is sinful perturbs the uncorrupted soul

That secrecy about our acts, generally speaking, shows the sinfulness of those acts

That the feelings of the heart should be considered when doing something

That righteousness leaves the soul and heart at peace

That wrongdoing causes an uncomfortable feeling which does not leave no matter

how much you are advised in its favour

That the legal verdicts and exhortations of people do not make a sin a right thing to

do

That a teacher can pre-empt a pupil's question in order to help the student understand

his queries

Hadeeth 28 : The Obligation of Binding Oneself to the

Sunnah

On the authority of Abu Najeeh al-'Irbaad ibn Saariyah (radiAllaahu anhu) who said :

The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) gave us a sermon by which

our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. So we said : "O Messenger

of Allaah ! It is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us".

He said :

I counsel you to have taqwaa (fear) of Allaah, and to listen and obey [your leader],

even if a slave were to become your Ameer. Verily he among you who lives long will

see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the

Khulafaa' ar-Raashideen (the Rightly Guided Caliphs), those who guide to the right

way. Cling to it stubbornly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly

invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bid'ah (innovation) is misguidance.

It was related by Abu Dawood and at-Tirmidhee, who said that it was a good and sound

Hadeeth.


In some of the narrations of this hadeeth it occurs : "Verily this is a farewell sermon, so what

do you charge/entrust us with ?" to which the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam replied :

"Verily I have left you upon a White Plain [ie Clear Guidance], its Night is like its Day, and

none deviates from it except that he is destroyed". And in another narration, his (radiAllaahu

anhu) statement "a profound sermon" means that the sermon affected them and caused them

to feel fear in their hearts, and brought tears to their eyes.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "I counsel you to have taqwaa (fear) of

Allaah, and to listen and obey [your leader]" means the ruler, even if he may be a slave. And

in some of the narrations it mentions "an Ethiopian slave". Some of the 'ulamaa have said

that a slave cannot be the ruler, and that this has been mentioned by way of an example or

supposition. And this is similar to his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Whosoever

builds for Allaah a masjid like a bird's nest, Allaah builds for him a house in Paradise". And

a bird's nest cannot be a masjid, but this is given simply by way of an example. Other

'ulamaa say that in this statement the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) is informing us

that the Rulership will become corrupt, and will be given to other than its rightful owners,

until it is even given to the slaves. So if this were to occur then still listen and obey, in order

to secure the lesser of two evils, which are putting up with a Ruler who rules without right,

or bringing about chaos and a great fitnah through revolt.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement : "Verily he among you who lives long

will see great controversy" is from amongst his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) miracles, as

he informed his Companions of that which was to occur after him of differences and the

spreading of evil. And he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was aware of this in complete

detail, but he did not reveal all these details to every individual. Rather he used to warn

about it in a general fashion, but also explained it in detail to some individuals such as

Hudhayfah and Abu Hurayrah (radiAllaahu anhumaa), and this is evidence to show their

great position and status.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "so you must keep to my

Sunnah" then the word 'sunnah' means the straight, correct and sound way which proceeds

upon his normal/customary way, and that is the Clear Path. And "the Sunnah of the

Khulafaa' ar-Raashideen (the Rightly Guided Caliphs), those who guide to the right

way" are those in whom the Guidance was contained, and they are the Four by consensus of

the Muslims - Abu Bakr, and 'Umar, and 'Uthmaan and 'Alee, may Allaah be pleased with

them all.

And the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) ordered us with clinging to the Sunnah of

the Khulafaa' ar-Raashideen for two reasons :

The First is in the form of taqleed (following without evidence) for the one who is incapable

of making his own discernment/judgement.

The Second is in the form of deciding that which is more correct when faced with a

difference of opinion amongst the Sahaabah themselves.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Beware of newly invented matters

[in the religion]" then know that such newly invented matters are of two types :

1) That matter which has no basis in the Sharee'ah, and this is baatil [rejected] and

blameworthy

2) That matter which has a parallel or similarity in the Sharee'ah, then this is not

blameworthy.

This is because the words 'newly invented matter' and 'bid'ah' are not deemed blameworthy

purely on the basis of the words themselves, but due to their indicating opposition to the

Sunnah and calling towards misguidance, and so they are not considered to be unrestrictedly

wrong. For example, 'Umar (radiAllaah anhu) reinstated the Taraaweeh Prayer and

said "What an excellent bid'ah is this." It is to be noted here that the Prophet (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam) had led the Taraaweeh Prayer in congregation for a few days, but then

discontinued it due to his fear that the people would think it obligatory. This condition

remained throughout the Khilaafah of Abu Bakr (radiAllaahu anhu), until 'Umar

(radiAllaahu anhu) restarted what the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) had already

laid a precedent for. Thus, he used the word bid'ah in a purely linguistic sense, and not in the

Shar'ee sense that is used for blameworthy things.


Summary :

That one should speak in a way, when it is needed, that reaches the very hearts of the

people

That the Sahaabah (radiAllaahu anhum) cried when listening to the sermon, and

hence it is not wrong to cry during sermons

That the advice given in this Hadeeth is parting advice from the Prophet (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam)

That the first thing advised is to fear Allaah (ie to have taqwaa)

That one should obey the Ameer ul-Mu'mineen completely

That obedience is due to the Ameer ul-Mu'mineen, no matter who becomes so (as

long he fulfills its conditions)

That there will be controversy and difference of opinion after the Messenger

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam

That in all cases of difference it is obligatory to stick to the Sunnah, the way of the

Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and to the way of the First Four Rightly

Guided Caliphs

That the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has referred to his Sunnah and

that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs as one thing, through his saying 'Cling to it'

That one must be extremely careful about new things in the Deen

That one must ensure that everything that one does as part of his religion indeed has

proof for it in the Qur'aan and Sunnah

That every invented matter in the Deen (which has no basis in the Sharee'ah) is a

bid'ah, and bid'ah leads away from Paradise and towards the Hell Fire, and hence

there cannot be a "good bid'ah"

That innovations can be in belief and in actions, and are manifestations of

controversy

Hadeeth 29 : That which Enters One into Paradise

On the authority of Mu'aadh bin Jabal (radiAllaahu anhu) who said :

I said : O Messenger of Allaah, tell me of an act which will take me into Paradise and

will keep me away from the Hell Fire.

He said : You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is easy for him for whom

Allaah makes it easy : Worship Allaah, without associating any partners with Him;

establish the Prayer; pay the Zakaah; fast in Ramadaan; and make the Pilgrimage to

the House.

Then he said : Shall I not guide you towards the Means of Goodness ? Fasting is a

shield; charity wipes away sin as water extinguishes fire; and the Praying of a man in

the depths of the Night. Then he recited : "[Those] who forsake their beds, to invoke

their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (charity in Allaah's Cause) out of what We

have bestowed on them. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a

reward for what they used to do." [Soorah as-Sajdah, 16-17]

Then he said : Shall I not inform you of the head of the matter, its pillar and its peak ?

I said : Yes, O Messenger of Allaah.

He said : The head of the matter is Islaam, its pillar is the Prayer and its peak is jihaad.

Then he said : Shall I not tell you of the foundation of all of that ?

I said : Yes, O Mesenger of Allaah.

So he took hold of his tongue and said : Restrain this.

I said : O Prophet of Allaah, will we be taken to account for what we say with it ?

He said : May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu'aadh ! Is there anything that

throws people into the Hell Fire upon their faces - or : on their noses - except the

harvests of their tongues ?

It was related by at-Tirmidhee, who said it was a good and sound hadeeth.


His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "You have asked me about a great matter, yet

it is easy for him for whom Allaah makes it easy" is referring to the one whom Allaah grants

the ability to act, then guides him to worship Him with sincerity, and without associating

any partners with Him.

"Establish the Prayer" means performing it by completing all its requisites in the most

perfect manner. Then after this, he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned the other

Pillars of Islaam, namely the Zakaah, Fasting and Hajj, and then he asked "Shall I not guide

you towards the Means of Goodness ?"

"Fasting is a shield" - here 'fasting' is referring to the Fasting other than that of Ramadaan,

as that has already been mentioned. What is implied here is observing many voluntary fasts.

And the protection of fasting is like a shield and covering from the Fire.

"Charity wipes away sin" - what is meant by 'charity' here is that which is beyond the

obligatory zakaat.

Then he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "and the Praying of a man in the depths of the

Night" and he recited the verses from Soorah as-Sajdah. All this means that the one who

stands in the middle of the night, abandoning the pleasure of his sleep, prefering instead that

which he hopes from his Lord, then his reward shall be as mentioned in the verse : "No

person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do".

And it has been transmitted in some narrations that "Allaah ta'aalaa boasts about the one

who stands in worship in the darkness of the night, by saying : "Look at My Slaves who

stand in the darkness of the night, when none except I see them; bear witness that I have

granted for them the abode of My Favour and Generosity""

And then he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Shall I not inform you of the head of the

matter ? ...". So he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) likened 'the matter' to a male camel and

made Islaam its head, as any animal cannot live without a head. Then he said "its pillar is

the Prayer" : the pillar of something is that thing by which it stands, and remains unstable

without it.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and the peak of its hump is jihaad" : the

peak of anything is its uppermost part, and the peak of the hump of a camel is its uppermost

tip. And jihaad is an action which is not matched or equalled by any other, as has been

narrated by Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu 'anhu) that a man came to the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and said : "Guide me to an action equal to jihaad", to which

the Messenger replied : "I do not find one". Then he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said

: "Are you able, when the Mujaahid leaves his house, to enter the Masjid and Pray

continuously without breaking, and fast continuously without eating [until the Mujaahid

returns] ?", to which the man replied "And who is able to do so ?"

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Shall I not tell you of the foundation of

all of that ? ..." is encouragement first upon jihaad against kufr, and then the greater jihaad,

which is the jihaad against the nafs (soul), and restraining it from speech which will harm it

and bring about its downfall. For he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) indicated that most of

the people will enter the Fire because of their tongues, whence he said : "May your mother

be bereaved of you, O Mu'aadh ! Is there anything that throws people into the Hell Fire upon

their faces - or : on their noses - except the harvests of their tongues ?"And it has already

been mentioned in the authentic hadeeth that "whosoever believes in Allaah and the Last

Day, then let him speak good or keep silent", and in another hadeeth "Whosoever guarantees

for me (ie safeguards) that which is between his jaws (ie his tongue) and that which is

between his legs (ie his private parts), then I shall guarantee for him Paradise".

Summary :

That seeking Paradise and seeking to be saved from the Fire is a matter of great

importance and seriousness, and this concern should have the correct priority in our

lives

That this hadeeth confirms that if one fulfils the requirements of all the five pillars of

Islaam then one is guaranteed Paradise

That the first pillar incorporates abiding by all the compulsory acts and avoiding all

that which is forbidden

That living Islaam is easy when Allaah makes it so

That the five pillars constitute the indivisible whole that is Islaam; therefore denying

any one of them is Kufr that bars us from Paradise

That fasting, giving in charity and praying Tahajjud lead to goodness in this world

and the next

That fasting protects us from sins, develops in us piety, thus acting as a shield

against the Fire and evil in this world

That giving in charity wipes out our sins

That praying Tahajjud develops us spiritually and makes our islaam stronger and

more sincere

That the head of our affair in life is living Islaam

That the Prayer is the central pillar that holds up our Islaam, and without which there

is no Islaam in our lives

That the peak of Islaam is Jihaad in the Way of Allaah, and this is the highest form

of Worship

That one must use ones tongue with extreme caution, as wrongful use of speech will

be held against us on the Day of Judgement and can land us in Hell Fire

The Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) did not mean the words "May your

mother be bereaved of you" as a literal supplication, but it was a custom of the arabs

Hadeeth 30 : The Rights of Allaah ta'aalaa

On the authority of Abu Tha'labah al-Kushanee - Jurthoom bin Naashir (radiAllaahu anhu) -

that the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Verily Allaah ta'aalaa has laid down Religious Obligations (faraa'id), so do not neglect

them; and He has set limits/boundaries, so do not overstep them; and He has

Forbidden some things, so do not violate them; and He has remained silent about some

things, out of compassion for you, not forgetfulness - so do not seek after them.

A Hasan hadeeth narrated by ad-Daaraqutnee and others.


His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "has laid down" means that Allaah 'azza wa jall

has made these things obligatory. And his statement "so do not overstep them" means do not

enter into them. And as for the forbiddance from delving into those matters which Allaah

has remained silent about, then it is in accordance with his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

statement : "Do not ask me about that which I have left [unspecified], for the earlier nations

were destroyed because of their excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their

Prophets" [See Hadeeth Number 9]. Some of the 'ulamaa have said : "The Banoo Israa'eel

used to ask [much] and they were answered and given what they asked for, until this became

a fitnah (trial) for them, and this brought them towards their destruction."

And the Sahaabah (radiAllaahu 'anhum) understood this, and restrained from asking except

in those matters which were essential. [Due to this] they would be delighted when a desert

bedouin [who would not be so restrained] would come to ask the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) questions, so they would listen attentively.

And some people became extreme in this until they said : "It is not permssible to ask the

scholars about new events/situations until they actually occur."And the Salaf [ie the Early

Scholars] used to say similar to this, that is to leave such matters until they actually

occurred. [This continued] until they began to fear that Knowledge would be lost [through

the death of the 'ulamaa], and so they began to lay down Principles, and discuss finer issues,

and to arrange and write down the different branches of Knowledge and their rulings.

And the 'ulamaa have differed regarding the ruling on matters before the Sharee'ah was

revealed about them [ie during the life of the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam] - were

they all forbidden or permissible or was there no ruling about them at all ? So the 'ulamaa

have split into three madhhabs on this issue, and all this is mentioned in detail in the books

of Usool ul-Fiqh.

Summary :

That a Muslim has specified enjoined duties to perform in his religion, which he

cannot neglect

That Allaah has shown us how and where not commit excesses

That He has set limits and prohibitions, which also cannot be neglected

That what is known clearly from the Book and the Sunnah is enough for our lives,

and this is a Mercy from Allaah

That we should not seek after what has not been mentioned

That speculating, philosophising and hypothesising about Islaam is forbidden

That Allaah never forgets

Hadeeth 31 : The Reality of Asceticism

On the authority of Abu al-'Abbaas Sahl bin Sa'ad as-Saa'idee (radiAllaahu anhu) who said :

A man came to the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and said : O Messenger of

Allaah, direct me to an act which, if I do it, [will cause] Allaah to love me and the

people to love me. So he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Renounce the world and Allaah will love you, and renounce what the people possess

and the people will love you.

A Hasan hadeeth related by Ibn Maajah and others with good chains of authorities.


Know that the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) used to encourage his

Companions upon making do with little from worldly possessions and upon abstemiousness,

and said : "Remain in the World as though you are a stranger, or a passing traveller." And it

has been narrated that he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Love of the Dunyaa

(Worldly pleasures) is the head of all sins" [However, this narration is traceable back only to

al-Hasan al-Basree, and not to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam]. And in another

hadeeth : "Verily the ascetic in this life finds his heart contented in this world and in the

Hereafter, while the seeker of the Dunyaa finds his heart weary in this world and in the

Hereafter".

And know that whosoever lives in the world lives like a guest, and whatever he holds in his

hand is but a loan; the guest will ultimately depart, and the loan will ultimately be returned.

And 'Alee (radiAllaahu anhu) said : "The Dunyaa is the land that you see before you - from

it eat the pious and the evil ones", and it is hated by the Awliyaa (Friends) of Allaah and

loved by the People of the Dunyaa. So whosoever joins them in their love of it (the Dunyaa)

then they too are hated.

And the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has guided the questioner in

this hadeeth to leave the Dunyaa by being abstemious of it, and as a consequence of that has

promised for him the Love of Allaah, the Most High - and that is His being Pleased with

him, for verily the Love of Allaah for His slaves is His being Pleased with them. And he

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) also guided him towards being abstemious of that which the

people possess, if he wishes to obtain the love of the people. And wealth is from love of the

Dunyaa, and verily there is nothing that the people possess and they hate one another

because of it or compete with one another for it, except the wealth of the Dunyaa.

And he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Whoever makes the Hereafter his pre-

occupation, then Allaah gathers together his affairs, and places freedom from want in his

heart, and the Dunyaa comes to him despite being reluctant to do so. And whoever makes

the Dunyaa his pre-occupation, then Allaah breaks up his affairs, and places his poverty

before his eyes, and nothing of the Dunyaa comes to him except that which has been

decreed for him. And the happy one is he who chooses that whose blessings will remain

forever over the trial whose punishments shall never cease".

Summary :

That renouncing the world secures the love of Allaah

That renouncing the world means not to take it itself as a goal in life and not to be

captivated and misled by it

Renouncing the world means to leave those things which are non-essential even

though they are permissible, and to keep to the necessities of life [Sharh an-Nawawi]

That renouncing what people have will secure their love for you

That renouncing what people have means not to compete in having what they own,

thus saving one from mutual rivalry for gain at the cost of others and their jealousy

Hadeeth 32 : No Harming nor Reciprocating Harm

On the authority of Abu Sa'eed Sa'ad bin Sinaan al-Khudree (radiAllaahu anhu) that the

Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

There should be neither harming [darar] nor reciprocating harm [diraar].

A Hasan hadeeth related by Ibn Maajah, ad-Daaraqutnee and others as a musnad hadeeth. It

was also related by Maalik in al-Muwatta in mursal form from 'Amr bin Yahyaa, from his

father from the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), but leaving Abu Sa'eed from the

chain. And it has other chains of narrations that strengthen one another.


Know that he who harms his brother has oppressed him, and oppression is Prohibited

[Haraam], as has preceeded in the hadeeth of Abu Dharr (radiAllaahu anhu) : "O My

servants ! I have forbidden dhulm (oppression) for Myself, and I have made it forbidden

amongst you, so do not oppress one another", and the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) has said : "Verily your blood [ie lives] and your property and your honour are all

Sacred/Prohibited". And he said this on many occasions, including the Sermon he gave at

the Farewell Hajj.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "There should be neither 'darar' nor

'diraar'" then some of the 'ulamaa have said that these are two words which have the same

meaning, and they have been used together as a form of emphasis.

And Ibn Habeeb (rahimahu Allaah) said : "According to the scholars of the Arabic language,

ad-darar refers to the noun and ad-diraar refers to the action/verb, and so the meaning of 'no

darar' is that none of you should harm any other with something that they have not harmed

you with first. And the meaning of 'no diraar' is that none of you should harm any other at

all."

And al-Muhsinee (rahimahu Allaah) said : "ad-darar is that by which you attain benefit, but

in it is harm for your neighbour", and this is a good understanding of a nuance of the

meaning. And other scholars have said : "ad-darar and ad-diraar are similar to al-qatal

[murder] and al-qitaal [fighting one another], so ad-darar is that you harm one who has not

harmed you, while ad-diraar is that you harm one who also harms you in a way that is not

responding equally or taking revenge rightfully", and this is similar to his (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam) statement "Return the Trusts given to you, to those who entrusted them to

you, and do not betray the one who betrays you" [Hasan Ghareeb, narrated by at-

Tirmidhee]. And the meaning of this according to some of the 'ulamaa is that one must not

betray the one who betrays, after one has already taken revenge or sought justice for his

betrayal. And so it is as though the forbiddance here is upon initiating an injustice or harm,

while the one who seeks revenge with the equal of what he has been harmed with, and who

takes his Right, then he is not considered to be a betrayer. Rather, the betrayer is he who

takes that which does not belong to him or more than that which is rightfully his.

And the Jurists [fuqahaa'] have differed over the one who refuses to fulfill the rights/trusts

that others have upon him, such that the entruster forcibly takes the wealth that he had

entrusted to him. So some of the scholars have said : "It is not correct for him to [forcibly]

take what is his right due to what is apparent from his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

statement "Return the Trusts, and do not betray the one who betrays you". On the other

hand, other scholars have said : "It is permissible for him to take revenge from the one who

has betrayed him, and to forcibly take what is due to him from the hand of his betrayer" and

they use as proof the hadeeth narrated by 'Aaishah (radiAllaahu anhaa) regarding the

incident involving Hind and her husband Abu Sufyaan, wherein Hind said to the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) "O Messenger of Allaah ! Verily Abu Sufyaan is a

stingy/tight-fisted man, and he does not give to me what is sufficient for myself and my

child, unless I take it from him secretly." So the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)

replied :"Take [from his wealth] what is sufficient for you and your child, but with justice"

[narrated by Muslim]. And in this issue the fuqahaa' have mentioned many points and fine

issues that cannot be mentioned here.

And what is correct from an examination of all the evidences is that it is not correct for

someone to harm his brother, whether he has harmed him or not, except if he avenges

himself to the extent that Justice allows him to [ie equally], and this is not considered to be

oppression nor harm, as long at is in a fashion that the Sunnah makes permissible for him.

And the Shaykh Abu 'Amr bin as-Salaah (rahimahu Allaah) has said that [the famous

hadeeth scholar] ad-Daaraqutnee has collected a number of chains of narration of this

hadeeth which strengthen one another, and thus raise it to the level of being Hasan [Sound,

acceptable], and it has been transmitted and used as proof by the vast majority of the

'ulamaa, and [the hadeeth scholar] Abu Daawood said : "The Knowledge of Fiqh revolves

around five ahaadeeth", and he counted this hadeeth amongst them. So Shaykh Abu 'Amr

said that the fact that Abu Daawood counted this hadeeth amongst the five, and his other

statements about it, show that he did not consider it to be a Da'eef [Weak, unreliable]

hadeeth, and he said about it that ad-diraar is similar to al-qitaal, and this is what is upon the

Sunnah. And many of the scholars of Fiqh and Hadeeth have also narrated this hadeeth

as "There should be neither darar nor idraar", but this wording has no basis.


Summary :

That it is forbidden to harm others

That it is forbidden to transgress against those who harm us

Hadeeth 33 : The Onus of Proof is on the Claimant and

The Taking of an Oath is on the Denier

On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas, radiAllaahu anhumaa, that the Messenger of Allaah


Were people to be given everything that they clamied, men would [unjustly] claim the

wealth and lives of [other] people. But, the onus of proof is upon the claimant, and the

taking of an oath is upon him who denies.

A Hasan hadeeth narrated by al-Baihaqee and others in this form, and part of it is in the two

Saheehs.


That which is recorded in the Two Saheehs [ie al-Bukhaaree and Muslim] of this hadeeth

mentions that Ibn Abee Mulaikah said that Ibn 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) wrote : "That

the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) decreed that the taking of an oath [of denial] is

upon the one against whom a claim is made", and in another narration : "That the Prophet

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said that if people were given everything that they clamied,

men would [unjustly] claim the blood/lives of other men, and their property; but the taking

of an oath is upon the one against whom a claim is made."

The compiler of the Forty Hadeeth [ie Imaam an-Nawawee] said : "This hadeeth has been

narrated by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim in their two Saheehs in Marfoo' form [ie the chain of

narrartion goes right up to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam] from the narration of

Ibn 'Abbaas, and it has been similarly narrated by the compilers of the Collections of Sunan

[such as Abu Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, etc] and other than them."

And al-Aseelee said "Its chain upto the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) is not

established - rather it is the statement of Ibn 'Abbaas", to which the collector [ie Imaam an-

Nawawee] replied : "If it [the chain of narration] has been declared Marfoo' by the testimony

of the Two Imaams [ie al-Bukhaaree and Muslim] then the statement of another who

restricts it [to a Sahaabee] does not have any effect, and this is not considered to be a

conflict nor disorder."

And this hadeeth is a principle from the Principles of the Sharee'ah, and a great authority to

which one resorts in case of dispute or argument, and it implies that judgement is not simply

passed by the claim of an individual.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "men would [unjustly] claim the wealth

and lives of [other] people", then this has been used by some people to prove the invalidity

of the statement of Imaam Maalik regarding the acceptance of the statement of the one who

has been [almost] killed that "so and so killed me" or "my blood is on the hands of so and

so", because if the statement of the sick man is not accepted that "so and so has my money"

then how can this statement "my blood is on the hands of so and so" be accepted ? However,

there is no proof in this for them against Imaam Maalik, as he did not link the Qisaas or

Diyah [the laws relating to murder] to the statement of the claimant, but rather to the

division of the inheritance upon the murder.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and the taking of an oath is upon

him who denies", then the 'ulamaa have come to a consensus [ijmaa'] that the one against

whom a claim is made can be forced to take an oath of denial in the case of disputed

property/possessions, but the 'ulamaa have differed in cases other than that. So some have

ruled that it is compulsory in every dispute such as in the case of divorce, or nikaah, or

freeing a slave, and they have taken this from the apparent generality of the hadeeth. And if

the claimed against refuses to take an oath, then the claimant may take an oath and his claim

will be accepted.

And Abu Haneefah (rahimahu Allaah) said : "An oath is taken [from the claimed against] in

the case of divorce and nikaah and freeing a slave, and if it is refused [by the claimed

against] then the claimant may take an oath in all of these cases." And he also said : "And

one does not force an oath in the case of the hudood".

Summary :

That we do not have all our wishes and desires fulfilled for the sake of the general

good

That mankind cannot always know by themselves what is good for them all

That man cannot be completely free of being selfish, and consequently unjust,

without the control of Allaah

That the one who claims something must prove it to be his

That the one who denies what he is accused of must take an oath of denial

Hadeeth 34 : Forbidding the Evil is from Eemaan

On the authority of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree (radiAllaahu anhu) who said : I heard the

Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) say :

Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to

do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with

his heart - and that is the weakest of faith.



Imaam Muslim has transmitted this hadeeth from Taariq bin Shihaab, who said : The first

person to begin with the Khutbah before the Prayer on the Day of 'Eed [instead of the Prayer

followed by the Khutbah] was Marwaan [the son of Yazeed]. So a man stood up to him and

said : "The Prayer [should be] before the Khutbah !" So [Marwaan] replied : "That old way

has been left." So Abu Sa'eed [al-Khudree] said : "As for this man [who spoke up to

Marwaan] then he has completed the duty that was upon him. I heard the Messenger of

Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) say 'Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it

[until the end of the hadeeth]'".

In this hadeeth is a proof that no one before Marwaan had changed the order of the 'Eed

Prayer and Khutbah. And if it is asked why did Abu Sa'eed himself not attempt to change

this evil, until the other man stood up against it, then this can be answered in a number of

ways : It is possible that Abu Sa'eed was not present the first time Marwaan began to give

the Khutbah before the Prayer, or that the man had begun to oppose Marwaan and then Abu

Sa'eed arrived upon the scene and the two of them then opposed Marwaan together. Or it is

possible that Abu Sa'eed was present but feared that if he opposed Marwaan then this would

lead to a greater fitnah or he feared for his own life, and so he remained silent. Or it is

possible that Abu Sa'eed was about to stand up against Marwaan, when the other man

unexpectedly rose before him, and so Abu Sa'eed assisted him.

And it is narrated in another hadeeth that is agreed upon by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, and

is mentioned by them in their Chapters on the 'Eeds, that it was Abu Sa'eed who pulled at

Marwaan's hand when he was about to climb onto the Mimbar, and Abu Sa'eed and the other

man were together so Marwaan replied to them both with what is mentioned here, and so the

meaning of what Abu Sa'eed said is that both of them completed their duties.

And as for his (sallAllaah alayhi wa sallam) statement "let him change it" then it is an order

indicating obligation by the consensus of the Imaams, and this is in conformity to the Book

of Allaah and the Sunnah regarding the obligation of commanding the good and forbidding

the evil, and it is also part of giving Naseehah [sincere advice] which is the Deen [See

hadeeth number Seven]. And as for His - ta'aalaa - statement : "O you who believe! Take

care of your ownselves; no harm can come to you from those who are in error if you follow

the right guidance" [Soorah al-Maa'idah, 105] then this is not in opposition to what we have

mentioned. This is because the correct understanding of this Noble Aayah according to the

'Ulamaa of the Truth is that if one performs ones duty then one will not be harmed by the

deficiencies of others. And this is similar to His statement : "and no bearer of burdens shall

bear the burden of another" [Soorah al-An'aam, 164]. And if this is the case, then from what

the Muslim has been charged with is commanding the good and forbidding the evil, and so

if he does that and yet the one spoken to does not submit, then he carries no blame after that.

This is because upon him is the commanding or the forbidding, but not the acceptance [of

the correction], and Allaah knows best.

Then, commanding the good and forbidding the evil is a Fard Kifaayah [Collective Duty], so

if a group of people establish it such that they suffice then the obligation falls from the rest

of the people. But if all of the people leave it, then all of them, who are able to do it without

difficulty, are sinful.

Further, sometimes it may be restricted to certain individuals, such as if it concerns an affair

that none knows of other than he, or none other than he has the ability to stop that affair,

such as the one who sees his wife or son or slave perform an evil.

The 'ulamaa have said that the obligation of commanding the good and forbidding the evil is

not removed if a person merely suspects that his admonition will not be accepted - rather he

is still obliged to perform it. Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "Verily, the reminding benefits the

believers" [Soorah adh-Dhaariyaat, 55], and it has already preceeded that upon him is to

admonish, and acceptance of the admonishment is not upon him. Allaah ta'aalaa has said

: "The Messenger's duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear way" [Soorah an-Noor,

54]. The 'ulamaa have said : "It is not a condition for the commander of good or the

forbidder of evil to himself be perfect in his condition, and fully complying with that which

he commands and fully leaving that which he forbids. Rather upon him is to command, even

if he himself is not upon that completely. This is because he has two duties upon him :

firstly, to order his own soul upon good and forbid it from evil, and secondly to command

and forbid other people. So if he fulfils one of them then the other still remains obligatory

upon him."

And they said that the actions of commanding the good and forbidding the evil are not

meant only for the government officals, but rather they are required from every individual

amongst the Muslims, and every one possessing knowledge of what be must commanded or

forbidden must do so. So if the matter is one which is well known and apparent, such as the

Prayer or the Fasting [of Ramadaan] or Zinaa or drinking of alcohol, or other matters similar

to these, then all of the Muslims have knowledge of them and so must command or forbid.

But if the matter is from the finer matters of action or speech or that which is associated with

ijtihaad, and they are not matters that the general populace have Knowledge of, then it is not

for them to forbid, rather this is for the 'ulamaa.

And the 'ulamaa admonish others regarding those issues upon which there is ijmaa'

[consensus]. But as for the issues over which there is a difference of opinion amongst the

scholars, then they do not admonish regarding them. This is because, according to the first

of the two madhhabs in this issue, every mujtahid is correct in his own ruling, and this

madhhab has been adopted by many of the verifying scholars. And according to the second

madhhab only one opinion is correct, but which ones are in error is not identifiable by us,

and hence there is no sin [upon the one who has erred]. So in such cases the scholars do not

admonish, but rather advise, as a form of naseehah [sincere advice], in order to keep clear of

the difference of opinion, and this is good and desirable, as long as it is done gently and with

kindness.

The Shaykh Muhyee ad-Deen an-Nawawi, rahimahu Allaah, said : "And know that this

affair of commanding the good and forbidding the evil has been largely abandoned since a

great length of time, and in this age nothing is left of it except very few formalities, despite

its being an extremely important affair, by which Authority is established in the land - rather

it is its foundation and basis. And if wickedness and evil become widespread in the land

then the Punishment [of Allaah] will encompass both the pious and the wicked people. So if

they do not take hold of the oppressors then they will all be very near to facing the

Punishment of Allaah, as Allaah ta'aalaa has said : "And let those who oppose the

Messenger's commandment beware, lest some Fitnah (trials, afflictions, etc) befall them or a

painful torment be inflicted on them" [Soorah an-Noor 63]. So it is required of the one who

seeks the Hereafter, and who exerts himself in attaining the Pleasure of Allaah 'azza wa jall,

that he concerns himself with this affair, for indeed its benefit is great. And this is so

especially since most of the people have left it, and let not the one who admonishes fear any

[evil] repurcussions, due to the raising of his rank [with Allaah]. For verily Allaah ta'aalaa

has said : "Verily, Allaah will help those who help His (Cause)." [Soorah al-Hajj 40]. And

know that the reward is proportionate to the exertion made and hardship faced. And one

should also not leave it due to the wrong-doer being ones friend or ones loved-one, for

verily the true friend of a person is the one who exerts himself in building his Hereafter,

even if this may bring about some loss in his worldly affairs. And the true enemy of a person

is the one who exerts himself in taking away his Hereafter, or reducing it, even if by doing

so he brings about some benefit in his worldly affairs."

And it is required of the one who commands the good and forbids the evil that he does so

with gentleness, in order to ensure the greatest chance of attaining that which is desired [ie

the correction and rectification of the wrong-doing individual]. And Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee

rahimahu Allaah said : "He who admonishes his brother in secret has sincerely advised him

and has adorned him, while he who admonishes his brother openly [in front of everyone] has

humiliated him and disfigured him."

And from what the people [nowadays] have become negligient of in this affair is that if they

see a trader selling goods or merchandise or animals that are defective, and he does not

show this defect to his customers, then nobody admonishes the trader for this, nor do they

inform the buyer about the defect. And they will be questioned about this [on the Day of

Judgement] for verily the Religion is Naseehah [sincerity or sincere advice], and he who

does not give sincere advice has cheated.

And his sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam statement "let him change it with his hand; and if he is

not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then

with his heart" means that he must hate it with his heart, and this does not stop the evil

occurring nor change it to something good, but this is all that he is capable of doing.

And his sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam statement "and that is the weakest of faith" means, and

Allaah knows best, that this is the smallest possible fruit or result of his faith. And it is not

upon the one who commands the good and forbids the evil to investigate and search and spy

upon others, or to invade others privacy or to suspect others in order to find their wrongs.

Rather, if he comes upon an evil then he changes it. And al-Maawardee (rahimahu Allaah)

said : "It is not for him to invade the privacy of and spy upon others, except if he is informed

by a trustworthy and reliable person that someone has secluded himself with another man in

order to murder him, or with a woman in order to fornicate with her. Then in such cases it is

permissible for him spy upon them and investigate, and to try to expose them in order to

prevent the occurrence of that which cannot be rectified."

And as for his sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam statement "and that is the weakest of faith" then

it has already been mentioned that this means the smallest fruit of ones faith. And it has been

related in a different narration of this hadeeth : "And after that there does not remain any

Eemaan [Faith] even of the size of a mustard seed", ie. that after that there does not remain

any level of Eemaan. And the word 'Eemaan' in this hadeeth carries the meaning of 'Islaam'.

In this hadeeth is a proof that the one who fears being killed or being beaten [for

admonishing the wrong-doer] is no longer required to act to change the evil, and this is the

madhhab of the Scholars of Truth from amongst the Early and Later scholars. However an

extreme group has adopted the position that the responsibility to act remains even if he fears

for his life or fears punishment.


Summary :

That it is everyone's individual duty to improve matters as far as he is able to do

That if one can correct something with ones hand without bringing about more harm,

then he should do so

That if it is that one can only say something under the circumstances, then one

should do so

That one must at least hate in ones heart the evil that has happened, even if one

cannot do anything about it, and this is the weakest level of Faith

That if one does not feel anything in one's heart against the wrong then this indicates

a lack of Faith

That one should take action whenever it is conducive to do so

Hadeeth 35 : The Brotherhood of Islaam

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu) who said : The Messenger of Allaah


Do not envy one another, and do not inflate prices for one another, and do not hate one

another, and do not turn away from one another, and do not undercut one another in

trade, but [rather] be Slaves of Allaah and Brothers [amongst yourselves]. A Muslim is

the brother of a Muslim : he does not oppress him, nor does he fail him, nor does he lie

to him, nor does he hold him in contempt. Taqwaa (Piety) is right here [and he pointed

to his chest three times]. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in

contempt. The whole of a Muslim is inviolable for another Muslim : his blood, his

property, and his honour.



Regarding his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Do not envy one another" : envy

(al-Hasad) is the desire that a blessing is removed from someone else, and this is forbidden.

And in another hadeeth "Do not have envy (Hasad), for verily envy eats away good deeds

the way fire consumes firewood or grass". As for al-Ghibtah then it is the desire to obtain

what another fortunate person possesses without wishing that he loses that blessing. And

sometimes the word al-Hasad is used in the place of al-Ghibtah due to the proximity of

meaning of the two, as in the statement of the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) :

"There is to be no Hasad execpt in two cases ... ", meaning here "There is to be no Ghibtah

except in two cases".

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "do not inflate prices for one another" then

the word used here in Arabic is 'najasha', and the origin of this word carries the meaning of

cheating, deception and swindling. And the Arabs sometimes call a hunter a 'naajish'

because he deceives and outsmarts the animal he hunts. And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) statement "do not hate one another" means do not adopt the means that lead to

hatred. This is because love and hate are matters of the heart, such that Mankind does not

possess full ability to control them, nor are they able to bring about change in them. And this

is as the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said [regarding the division of time he had

made between his wives] : "Oh Allaah this division is what I have been able to do, so do not

take me to account for that which you control, and over which I have no control", meaning

by this his heart.

And "turning away" means enmity, and it has also been said that it means cutting off

relations or boycotting. And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and do not

undercut one another in trade" is referring to the situation where a buyer has almost

completed a contract with a seller, and during the final time of choice a second seller

approaches him and says : "If you revoke this sale then I will sell to you the same thing or

better than it for the same price". Or, if a buyer and seller have agreed upon a price and are

pleased with it, and only the completion of the contract remains, and then a second seller

offers to give more for the same price, or to give the same goods at a lower price, then this is

forbidden as it occurs after agreement on the price has taken place and the buyer and seller

have been pleased with it. However, if the second seller makes his offer before they are

pleased with the price then this is not forbidden.

And the meaning of "but be you, O Servants of Allaah, Brothers" means deal with one

another and live together amiably with brotherhood, and treat one another with love,

kindness, compassion and courteousness, and help one another upon goodness, while always

having a clear heart and offering sincere advice in all situations.

And regarding his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "A Muslim is the brother of a

Muslim : he does not oppress him, nor does he fail him, nor does he lie to him nor does he

hold him in contempt" : to fail someone means to leave helping or aiding him, so if a

Muslim were to seek ones help in defending himself from an oppressor or similar to that,

then it is necessary to help him if one is able to, and one has no Shar'ee excuse for not doing

so.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "nor does he hold him in contempt" means

that he does not behave haughtily towards another Muslim, so as to belittle him.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Taqwaa (Piety) is right here [and he

pointed to his chest three times]" and in another narration "Verily Allaah does not look at

your bodies nor at your appearances, but rather he looks at your hearts". This means that the

apparent actions of the limbs do not, by themselves, attain for one Taqwaa. But rather

Taqwaa is attained through what is in the heart of appreciating the Greatness of Allaah the

Exalted, and having Fear of Him and having Recognition of Him, and knowing that the

Sight of Allaah encompasses all things. And so the meaning of the hadeeth, and Allaah

knows best, is the taking of the self to account, and the point of observation of all of this is

by the heart.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "It is enough evil for a man to hold his

brother Muslim in contempt" contains a severe warning from doing so, since Allaah ta'aalaa

did not look upon him in contempt when He created him, and nourished him, and then

perfected his outward appearance, and then subdued whatever is in the Heavens and

whatever is in the Earth for his sake. And even though He did this for others along with him,

no doubt he has a share in it. Then after that, Allaah - subhaanahu - named him a Muslim

and a Believer and a Slave, and his Command extended to the extent that he made the

Messenger that He sent to him Muhammad (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam). So whoever

treats with contempt a Muslim from amongst the Muslims, then he has treated with

contempt one whom Allaah 'azza wa jall has granted greatness and nobility, and no doubt

that is sufficient for him. And so from treating a Muslim with contempt is not to send the

greeting of salaam upon him if he passes by him, and not to reply to his greeting of salaam if

he begins with it. And it also includes not thinking that Allaah will enter him into Paradise

or keep him safe from the Hellfire.

And as for the case of the Intelligent one who is resentful of (or is hostile to) the Foolish

Ignorant one, or the Just and Honest one who is resentful of the Sinner, then this is not

considered to be contempt of a Muslim. Rather, this is resent for the ignorance that is

present in the Ignorant one, and the sinfulness that is present in the Sinner. So when this

ignorance or sinfulness leaves that person, he returns to treating him well and raises his

status in his estimation.


Summary :

That it is generally forbidden to be envious of one another, although other ahaadeeth

specify that envy in certain [good] cases is allowed if we wish to be like them

That it is forbidden to raise prices to harm others, such as through hoarding or

through trying to make unjust profit

That it is forbidden to turn away from being good to or helping one another

That it is forbidden to undercut one another in trade

That we must be brothers to one another, and true Brotherhood lies in being Allaah's

Worshippers and Servants

That it is forbidden to oppress one another, or fail one another on purpose, or lie to

one another, or to hold each other in contempt

That Taqwaa (Piety) is in the heart - see hadeeth number six - and hence the heart

must be trained, purified and protected

That it is forbidden to violate the rights of another Muslim : to shed his blood

[unlawfully], or physically hurt him, or to deprive him of what belong to him, or to

cheat him

That it is forbidden to violate the honour of another Muslim

Hadeeth 36 : The Virtue of Gathering for the Recitation

of The Qur'aan, and for the Remembrance of Allaah

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu) that the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa

sallam) said :

Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allaah will remove from him one

of the griefs of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever alleviates the need of a needy

person, Allaah will alleviate his needs in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever

shields [or hides the misdeeds of] a Muslim, Allaah will shield him in this world and

the Hereafter. And Allaah will aid His Slave so long as he aids his brother. And

whoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allaah will make easy for him a

path to Paradise. No people gather together in one of the Houses of Allaah, reciting the

Book of Allaah and studying it among themselves, except that Sakeenah (Tranquility)

descends upon them, and Mercy envelops them, and the angels surround them, and

Allaah mentions them amongst those who are with Him. And whoever is slowed down

by his actions, will not be hastened forward by his lineage.

It was related by Muslim in these words.


This is a great hadeeth that encompasses all the branches of Knowledge, and the Principles

[of the Religion], and the Excellent Manners. In it is found the virtue of fulfilling the needs

of the Muslims, and benefitting them, from what is possible for one, of Knowledge, or

wealth, or aid, or guidance towards that which will correct their affairs, or advice. or other

than that. And the meaning of "alleviates the need" is removing it.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Whoever shields [or hides the

misdeeds of] a Muslim", then 'shielding' here means to hide his slips and lapses, and the

intended meaning here is hiding the lapses of those who are of upright and pious character,

and those like them who are not known to be evil-doers. And this is with regards to hiding

the sins that they may have committed in the past, and which are over. On the other hand, if

they are caught red-handed performing a sin then it is obligatory to admonish them and

forbid them from it. And if they are unable to do so, then they must raise the matter to the

Authorities, if they do not fear any evil repurcussions from this. Thus, in such cases the

correct action is not to shield them, as this may tempt them to perpetrate more evil, to cause

more harm, to enter into more Forbidden matters, or to encourage others upon what is

similar to this. So it is desired that one raises the matter to the Leader, as long as he does not

fear any further evil from doing so. And similar to all this is the disparagement and

criticising of the Narrators of Hadeeth by the Hadeeth Scholars, and of the Witnesses [to

contracts], and the Trustees of the wealth to be distributed in Charity and the Awqaaf, and

those who look after the wealth of the Orphans, and what is similar to that. Then in all such

cases it is obligatory to expose their evil actions if required, and it is not permissible to hide

their sins if one sees from them that which is reproachable. And this is not considered to be

from the Forbidden Backbiting, rather it is part of the Obligatory Naseehah [sincerity,

advice].

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "And Allaah will aid His Slave so

long as he aids his brother" then this is a generalisation whose detailed explanation must

include the case where the Slave [of Allaah] resolves to help his brother Muslim [by

admonishing him], whereupon it becomes required of him not to be cowardly of speaking

the Truth to him, believing, all the while, that Allaah will help him and protect him from any

evil repurcussions of doing so.

And in this hadeeth is mentioned the virtue of fulfilling the needs of a Muslim, and of

striving in the Path of seeking Knowledge, and this includes the virtue of being pre-occupied

with Knowledge. And what is intended by Knowledge here is the Knowledge of the

Sharee'ah. And all this requires that one intends by it the Face of Allaah ta'aalaa, just as this

is a condition in every act of worship.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together in one of the

Houses of Allaah, reciting the Book of Allaah and studying it among themselves" is a proof

for the virtue of gathering in the masjid for the recitation of the Qur'aan. And regarding the

word 'Sakeenah' mentioned here, then some people have said that it means 'Mercy', but this

interpretation is weak due to the separate mention of Mercy in the next part of the hadeeth.

And it has been said that it means Tranquility, Peacefulness and Dignity, and this is better.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together" is in the

indefinite, general form, as though he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) meant to say "Any

people" who gather for this, then they will receive all of the Virtue what he has mentioned.

And he (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) did not lay a condition here that the people must be

scholars, or ascetics or possessors of High Stations. And the meaning of "and the angels

surround them" is similar to that mentioned by Allaah ta'aalaa in His Noble Book : "And

you will see the angels surrounding the Throne (of Allaah) from all round" [Soorah az-

Zumar, 75], that is they will encircle and encompass them from every side. And so it will be

as though the angels will be so close to them, so as to completely encircle them, and no gap

will be left between them through which Shaytaan may enter.

And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and Mercy envelops them" then the

word 'envelop' is not used except when all the parts of the object are completely covered

from all sides. And Shaykh Shihaab ad-Deen bin Farj said : "And the meaning of this, from

what I see to be correct, is that the Envelopment of His Mercy is such that it encircles and

embraces all previous sins, in shaa' Allaah ta'aalaa".

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and Allaah mentions them amongst those

who are with Him" implies that the mentioning of Allaah ta'aalaa is amongst the Prophets

and the Most Honourable of the Angels, and Allaah knows best.

Summary :

That this hadeeth contains encouragement to help each other for our own benefit

That any Muslim who makes a Muslim happy will receive the Mercy of Allaah on

the Day of Resurrection, and He will remove one of his griefs that Day

That any Muslim who sees to the need of another Muslim, will have his own needs

seen to by Allaah

That any Muslim who protects another Muslim will be protected by Allaah

That Allaah will help us as long as we help each other

That one who strives to gain Knowledge of the Deen will be helped by Allaah in

acting upon it

That the mosques should be used to gather in to study the Deen and to recite the

Qur'aan collectively

That such groups of people receive the Peace and Mercy of Allaah, and are

surrounded by the Angels, and are mentioned by Allaah to those near Him

That this is true for any group of Muslims, whether or not they are scholars or very

pious individuals

That when we remember Allaah, He remembers us and makes mention of us

That if one becomes lax in his religious duties, his lineage or ancestry will not avail

him anything before Allaah

Seeking knowledge of the Deen entails acting upon it and propagating it

Hadeeth 37 : The Grace of Allaah ta'aalaa and His Mercy

On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas, radiAllaahu anhu, from the Messenger of Allaah,

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, from what he has related from his Lord, tabaaraka wa ta'aalaa,

that He said :

Verily Allaah ta'aalaa has written down the Good deeds and the Evil deeds, and then

explained it [by saying] : Whosoever intended to perform a Good deed, but did not do

it, then Allaah writes it down with Himself as a complete Good deed. And if he

intended to perform it and then did perform it, then Allaah writes it down with

Himself as from ten Good deeds upto seven hundred times, upto many times

multiplied. And if he intended to perform an Evil deed, but did not do it, then Allaah

writes it down with Him as a complete Good deed. And if he intended it [ie. the evil

deed] and then performed it, then Allaah writes it down as one Evil deed.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim in their two Saheehs in these words.

Imaam An-Nawawi then said :

So look [at this], my brother, and may Allaah grant us the ability to recognise the

immense benevolence of Allaah ta'aalaa, and to contemplate these words. And His

statement "with Himself" indicates His interest and concern for it. And His

statement "a complete [Good deed]" is for emphasis and expressing the strength of His

concern. And He said regarding the Evil deed that one intends to do but then leaves

acting upon it :"Allaah writes it down with Him as a complete Good deed", so He

emphasised it with completeness. And if he acts upon it : "then Allaah writes it down

as one Evil deed", so He emphasised its smallness by mentioning it as a single deed,

and He did not describe it with 'completeness'. So for Allaah is all Praise and Grace,

subhaanahu, and we cannot enumerate His Praises. And from Allaah is the tawfeeq

[ability] for attaining His Pleasure.


The explainers of this hadeeth have said : This is a noble and great hadeeth in which the

Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has explained the measure of the Grace of Allaah,

'azza wa jall, upon His creation, as He has made the intention to do a Good deed, without

actually performing it, equal to the reward of a Good deed. And He has made the intention

to do an evil deed, which one then does not perform, as equal to a complete Good deed

[also], and if one were to act upon it then it is deemed as a single evil deed. And if one

performs a Good deed then Allaah writes it down as ten, and this is an immense Grace, as

He has multiplied for the slaves their Good deeds, but has not multiplied their evil deeds

against them.

And He has made the intention to perform a Good deed like a [complete] Good deed

because the intention to do good is an action of the heart, due to the resolve of the heart

upon that. And if it is then said : "This statement then requires that the one who intends to

perform an Evil deed, and does not do it, must also have an Evil deed written for him, as the

[evil] intention is also an action from amongst the actions of the heart", then the answer to

this would be that this is not the case, as the one who stops short from performing an evil,

then he has nullified his resolve to do evil, and has changed it for another resolve to do

good, and has thus disobeyed his evil desires, and so he is rewarded for this with the reward

of a Good deed. And it has been related in another hadeeth that "Verily he has left it [the

evil deed] because of Me", that is "for My sake", and this is similar to his (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) statement "Upon every Muslim is the giving of charity", so some people asked

"What if they do not do so ?", so he replied "Then let them withold from evil, and that will

be their charity". This was mentioned by al-Bukhaaree in his Book of Manners. However, if

he leaves an evil deed unwillingly, or because he is unable to perform it, then a good deed is

not written for him, and this does not enter into the meaning of this hadeeth.

Imaam at-Tabaree, the famous mufassir, said that in this hadeeth is evidence for the

statement that the Two Recording Angels, [assigned to each person to write down the good

and bad deeds of that person], write down not just the actions but also what the person

intends to do of good or evil, and they know what he resolves to do in his heart. And thus,

this hadeeth is a refutation of those who wrongly think that the Two Angels only write down

that which is apparent from the outward actions of the person, or from what they hear him

say. And so this all means that the Two Angels know all that which a person intends in his

heart, and it is conceivable that Allaah ta'aalaa has granted for them a means to attain this

knowledge [which is from the Knowledge of the Ghayb or Unseen], just as He has granted a

means to many of the Prophets to attain knowledge of many things from the Unseen. And

Allaah has said regarding 'Eesaa (alayhi as-salaam) that he said to the Banee Israa'eel "And I

inform you of what you eat, and what you store in your houses" [Soorah Aal 'Imraan, 49].

And our Prophet Muhammad (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was informed of many things

from the Matters of the Unseen, and hence all this shows that it is possible that Allaah has

granted to the Recording Angels a means to attain the knowledge of what is in the hearts of

mankind, from good or evil, and so they write down whatever he resolves to do. And it has

been said that this is through a smell or fragrance that they are able to detect emanating from

the heart. And hence the Salaf [ie the Early Righteous Scholars] have differed over which

form of Dhikr [Remembrance of Allaah] is better : the dhikr of the heart or the dhikr made

out loud.

And all of this [that has been narrated from Imaam at-Tabaree] is the statement of Ibn Khalf,

who is better known as Ibn Buttaal. And the author of al-Ifsaah, Yahyaa bin Muhammad al-

Hanbalee [d. 560 H], said in some of his writings : When this Ummah had its life spans

reduced [as compared to the people of the previous Nations who had much longer life

spans], it was compensated for this reduction with a multiplication of the reward of its

actions. [ie. Since the life span of our Ummah is shorter, we have less time to do good

deeds; so Allaah multiplied the reward for our good deeds to compensate for this.] So

whoever intends to peform a good action, it will be counted for him as a complete good

deed. And Allaah has declared it as being a 'complete' deed so that none may think that since

it is only an intention [and not a complete action] it is somehow deficient. And thus, Allaah

has raised the intention to the level of being included amongst the complete actions. So He

wrote down the intention as a complete good deed and then multiplied that according the

degree of sincerity of the performer, and according to the appropriateness of the action to the

time and place.

Then he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said after that "or many times over". This is

mentioned, in the Arabic, in the indefinite form which is more comprehensive than the

definite, and this implies that the multiplication may be counted upto the most that is

possible. Then, it is possible that this generous promise includes that one says that when a

man spends in charity a single grain of wheat, then it will be counted for him, from the

Grace of Allaah ta'aalaa, as though he sowed that grain in the most pure and fertile land, and

attended to it and protected it and watered it, according to its needs, until it ripened, so he

harvested it; and then he threshed that harvest in that pure fertile land, so the grains were

sown again in it, and were looked after in the same manner as has preceeded; and then the

same as this in the second year, and then the third and fourth years, and the years that

followed that; and this continues until the Day of Resurrection, and so that single grain of

wheat or mustard or couscous will come that day like a mountain. And if the charity was a

tiny action from amongst the actions of Eemaan [ie. a good deed] then one may compare it

to the profit that may be attained through the purchase of a commodity during that time. And

so it is possible that if he sold a commodity in the best market of the greatest nation, and that

commodity were the most profitable for trade, then that profit were multiplied [through

successive trades] until it returns to him on the Day of Resurrection such that its magnitude

is like that of the entire world. And similarly all the actions of righteousness will be treated

by Allaah 'azza wa jall in a similar manner, as long as they are performed with a pure and

clean intention.

And from this also is that the Grace of Allaah multiplies with the transfer of charity from

one person to another. So, for example, consider if a person gives a dirham in charity to a

poor man, and then that poor man in turn passes the dirham on to another poor man who is

in greater poverty than he, and then this third person passes it onto a fourth, and the fourth to

a fifth, and this goes on to a great extent. Then, Allaah ta'aalaa will count for the first

person, who originally gave the dirham, ten times the reward. But when this dirham is

transferred by the second person to the third, then the second person gains ten and the first

person's reward is multiplied to ten thousand. Then, when the third transfers it to the fourth,

the second person gets one thousand, and the first gets a million. And so this continues until

they attain rewards that may only be counted by Allaah ta'aalaa.

And from this also is that when Allaah - subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa - accounts His Muslim

slave on the Day of Resurrection, and his good deeds are of varying and disparate levels,

some of them of a high level and others not so, then He - subhaanahu - from His immense

Generosity and Grace may count all of his good deeds by the measure of the best and

highest amongst them; for verily His Generosity - jalla jalaalahu - is far greater than that He

should dispute with his slave, who is pleased with Him, about the disparity in the measure of

his good deeds. And no doubt Allaah jalla jalaalahu has said :

"We shall certainly pay them a reward in proportion

to the best of what they used to do" [Soorah an-Nahl,

97].

And similarly, the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) has informed us that if a Muslim

declares aloud in a market from amongst the markets of the Muslims : "laa ilaaha illaa

Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd, yuhyee wa yumeet, wa

huwa 'alaa kulli shayin qadeer [There is none worthy of being worshipped except Allaah,

Alone without any partner; for Him is the Dominion and for Him is all Praise; He gives life

and He gives death; and He is All-Powerful over all things]" then Allaah will write for him

due to that a million rewards, and will wipe away from him a million evil deeds, and will

build for him a house in Paradise [narrated by at-Tirmidhee].

And all this that we have mentioned is according to only that which we have knowledge of,

and not according to the true level of the Grace of Allaah subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa. For verily

He is far greater than what anyone may deny for Him, or what any of the creation may try to

estimate of Him.


Summary :

That whatever is classed as a Good deed, or an Evil deed, has already been written

down as such by Allaah, ie. Good and Evil deeds are what He has specified them to

be

Therefore, what Allaah has given us in The Qur'aan and Sunnah is from His

knowledge of what is Good and what is Evil, as defined and accepted by Him

That whatever we are going to do is known by Him

That if we intend to perform a Good deed [as defined by the Sunnah], but do not

actually perform it, then we are still rewarded for one full Good deed

That if we intend to perform a Good deed, and actually perform it, then Allaah will

record it as though it were done ten to seven hundred times over, or more than that

The actual merit of a Good deed is determined by Allaah according to our sincerity

That not doing a bad deed which one intended to do, obtains for one a reward equal

to a complete Good deed

That if one actually performs a bad deed that one intended to do, then it is written

down only as its worth, ie a single bad deed

That if one ends up in the Fire then he only gets that which he deserves, as he was

indeed a very bad person

That good actions are not all of equal merit, nor are bad actions. Hence, it is not

possible to calculate how much good or bad one has accumulated each day

That one must not forget that it is still possible to destroy all the good deeds we have

been doing

Hadeeth 38 : The Worship of Allaah is the Means of

Attaining Nearness to Him and His Love

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu) who said : The Messenger of Allaah


Verily Allaah ta'aalaa has said : Whosoever shows enmity to a walee (friend) of Mine,

then I have declared war against him. And My servant does not draw near to Me with

anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. And

My servant continues to draw near to me with nawaafil (supererogatory) deeds until I

Love him. When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with

which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.

Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek

refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree

Explanation of Hadeeth Number 38 :

The author of al-Ifsaah said about this hadeeth from its understanding : Verily Allaah

subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa has put aside all excuses from the one who shows enmity to a walee

of His, and has declared that He shall War against him with the same enmity. And the walee

of Allaah ta'aalaa is the one who follows that which Allaah has legislated. So let mankind be

warned against harming the hearts of the awliyaa of Allaah, 'azza wa jall.

And I consider the meaning [of this hadeeth] as referring to the one who shows enmity to a

walee due to the Friendship and Allegiance (Wilaayah) shown to him by Allaah. On the

other hand, if the matter is such that it involves a dispute between two walees of Allaah in

the form of a legal dispute or a quarrel, which is due to one of them trying to attain a right of

his that is hidden from the other, then this does not enter into this hadeeth. And such

disputes have occurred between Abu Bakr and 'Umar (radiAllaahu anhumaa), and between

al-'Abbaas and 'Alee (radiAllaahu anhumaa), and similarly between many of the sahaabah,

and all of them were awliyaa of Allaah.

And His - subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa - statement "And My servant does not draw near to Me

with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon

him" contains a reference to the fact that we do not place the voluntary deeds (nawaafil)

before the obligatory (faraa'id). And the 'nawaafil' are named as such because they are

performed after the obligatory deeds have been completed; and if not then they are not given

the name 'nawaafil'; and this is indicated by His statement "And My servant continues to

draw near to me with nawaafil (supererogatory) deeds until I Love him", since attaining

Nearness with the nawaafil occurs by what follows the completion of the faraa'id. So when

the slave becomes persistent in seeking His Nearness through the nawaafil, then this causes

Allaah 'azza wa jall to Love him.

Then He said "When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with

which he sees" until the end of the hadeeth. Then this is a sign of the Wilaayah of Allaah,

and its meaning is that he does not hear that which is not permitted for him to hear by the

Sharee'ah, nor does he see that which is not permitted by the Sharee'ah, nor does he grasp

with his hand that which is not permitted for him by the Sharee'ah, nor does he hasten with

his legs towards anything except that which the Sharee'ah allows him to hasten towards.

And all of this is the basis (asl) [of being Loved by Allaah]. But also, the Worshipper of

Allaah may become so engrossed in the Dhikr of Allaah ta'aalaa that he becomes famous for

that, and if another person, who is not from amongst those who Remember Allaah much,

were to speak to him without mentioning the Dhikr of Allaah, then it would be as though he

did not hear him; until the speaker approaches him with something from the Dhikr of

Allaah. And similarly in the case of those things which are seen, and those things which are

grasped, and those things towards which one walks. And this is a most noble characteristic,

and we ask Allaah that He makes us from amongst its possessors.

And His statement "and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him

refuge" shows that even after the slave becomes from amongst the Beloved of Allaah, this

does not prevent him from asking his Lord to satisfy his needs or seeking refuge in Him

from those whom he fears. And Allaah ta'aalaa is able to give him what he desires before his

asking Him for them, and to grant him refuge before he seeks it, but He subhaanahu

becomes Near to His slaves through His giving those who ask Him, and His granting refuge

to those who seek it from Him.


Summary :

That there are Muslims who are the Awliyaa (Friends) of Allaah

That one who is close to Allaah because of his piety and worship of Him, has Allaah

as his Protector

That whoever makes a walee an enemy, actually earns the enmity of Allaah for

himself

That one draws closer to Allaah by following the Sharee'ah, and by fulfilling the

obligatory duties upon him

That a Muslim continues to draw closer to Him by performing voluntary acts of

worship (nawaafil)

That ways and means not prescribed in the Sunnah will not help us in drawing closer

to Allaah

That when a servant draws closer to Him, then Allaah Loves him, and then guides

him in each moment of his life

an-Nawawi said that "I am his hearing ..." can mean "I safeguard his hearing from

shaytaan"

That when a servant is Loved by Allaah, He fulfills his du'aa, and protects him from

evil when he asks Him to do so

Hadeeth 39 : Leniency for the One who Errs, the One

who Forgets, and the One who is Forced

On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) that the Messenger of Allaah


Verily Allaah has pardoned [or been lenient with] for me my Ummah : their mistakes,

their forgetfulness, and that which they have been forced to do under duress.

A Hasan hadeeth related by Ibn Maajah, and al-Bayhaqee and others.


And it has been related in the tafseer of the statement of Allaah, 'azza wa jall, "And whether

you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allaah will call you to account for it"

[Soorah al-Baqarah, 284] that when this aayah was revealed it became a great burden upon

the Sahaabah, radiAllaahu anhum. So Abu Bakr, 'Umar 'Abd-ur-Rahmaan bin 'Awf and

Mu'aadh bin Jabal, amongst a number of others, came to the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) and said "We have been burdened with actions which we find

we are incapable of sustaining. Verily one of us may mention to himself [evil] things which

he would not like to settle in his heart, even if he were to be offered the wealth of the dunyaa

for doing so." So the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said "I fear that you are saying

what the Banoo Israa'eel said : 'We hear and we disobey'. But, rather, you should say : 'We

hear and we obey'". So this became very hard upon them, and they remained in this state for

some time. Then Allaah ta'aalaa revealed upon them His mercy and that which gave them

respite, with His statement :

"Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He

gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and

he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned.

'Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into

error'" [Soorah al-Baqarah, 286].

So Allaah 'azza wa jall said, in a hadeeth Qudsee, "I have decreed so", and thus Allaah

revealed to the Muslims that which lightened their burden, and which abrogated the aayah

which came before it.

Al-Bayhaqee said that Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee, rahimahu Allaah, said :

Allaah subhaanahu said "Except him who is forced [to kufr] and whose heart is at rest with

Faith" [Soorah an-Nahl, 106], and so there are Rulings regarding Kufr. And since Allaah has

dropped the ruling of Kufr from the one who is forced to utter such words, then similarly

must be the case of the one who is mistaken or the one who forgets, since when the greater

of two issues is dropped, then that which is less than it is also dropped along with it. Further,

it is related from Ibn 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) from the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) "Verily Allaah has pardoned for me my Ummah : their

mistakes, their forgetfulness, and that which they have been forced to do under duress", and

it has been related from 'Ayeshah (radiAllaahu anhaa) from the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) that he said : "There is no divorce nor freeing of a slave in a state of anger", and

this is the madhhab of 'Umar and Abdullaah ibn 'Umar and 'Abdullaah ibn az-Zubair

(radiAllaahu anhum). And Thaabit bin al-Ahnaf married the mother of a son of 'Abd-ur-

Rahmaan bin Zayd bin al-Khattaab, so 'Abd-ur-Rahmaan intimidated and threatened him

with a whip, until he unwillingly divorced her, during the Khilaafah of 'Abdullaah bin az-

Zubair. So Abdullaah ibn 'Umar said to him that the divorce was not valid, as it had been

made under duress, and so he should return to her. At that time Abdullaah bin az-Zubair, the

Khaleefah, was in Makkah so he [ibn az-Zubair] wrote to his governor in Madeenah to

return Thaabit's wife to him, and to punish 'Abd-ur-Rahmaan bin Zayd. So Safiyyah bint

Abee 'Ubayd, the wife of 'Abdullaah bin 'Umar, prepared her for her return, and 'Abdullaah

bin 'Umar attended their Wedding Feast.


Summary :

That Allaah has forgiven Muslims for the sins that they commit by mistake

That Allaah has forgiven Muslims for what they do out of forgetfulness

That Allaah has forgiven Muslims for what they are compelled to do against their

wishes

That we are to overlook and forgive each other for what we do by mistake, or out of

forgetfulness or under duress, since Allaah Himself does so

Hadeeth 40 : The World is the Means and the Sowing-

Field for Attaining the Hereafter

On the authority of 'Abdullaah bin 'Umar radiAllaahu anhu, who said : The Messenger of

Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) took me by the shoulder and said :

Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.

And Ibn 'Umar (radiAllaahu anhu) used to say :

In the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and in the morning do not

expect [to live until] the evening. Take [advantage of] your health before times of

sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree.


The Imaam Abu al-Hasan 'Alee bin Khalf said in his explanation of Saheeh al-Bukhaaree

that Abu az-Zinaad said : The meaning of this hadeeth is an encouragement upon refraining

from excessive socialising, upon purchasing little for ones needs, and upon abstention from

the dunyaa. Abu al-Hasan then said : The explanation of this is that the stranger [in a town]

does not socialise much or behave cheerfully with its people, but rather remains aloof and

lonely, as he does not hope to pass by someone who knows him, with whom he may

socialise and be friendly. Thus he remains lowly, submissive and in a state of fear. And

similar to this is the traveller, who is unble to complete his arduous journey except with

great strength and determination, and by keeping light of all burdens, and by avoiding being

tenacious in retaining those things which may prevent him from completeing his journey.

And he only takes with him minimum provision for his journey, and a riding camel, which

are enough to help him attain his destination. And this is an indication of his preference for

abstention from the dunyaa, and for taking only that which is sufficient for him. And so, just

as the traveller does not require more than that which will help him to reach his destination,

so similarly the Believer does not require more of the dunyaa than that which will help him

attain his goal [ie. Paradise].

And al-'Izz 'Alaa-ud-Deen bin Yahyaa bin Hubairah (rahimahu Allaah) said : In this hadeeth

is evidence that the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam encouraged emulation

of the strangers, since when a stranger enters a foreign land he does not compete with its

people to attend their gatherings, nor does he worry about being seen in a state and condition

opposite to that which is his normal habit in terms of his dress, nor does he try to behave

contrary to the customs of the local people. And similarly is the condition of the traveller

who does not take a permanent abode of residence, nor does he enter into arguments with

the local people which might cause hatred between them, knowing that he will only be

amongst them for a few days. So all the conditions of the stranger and the traveller are

beloved for the Believer in this dunyaa, as the dunyaa is not his true abode of residence.

Rather, the dunyaa is merely an obstruction that prevents him from reaching his true abode

and dwelling place in the Hereafter.

And as for the statement of Ibn 'Umar (radiAllaahu anhu) : "In the evening do not expect [to

live until] the morning, and in the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening", then

this is an encouragement from him for the Believers to always be prepared for the

eventuality of death. And death is prepared for with Good Deeds. It is also an

encouragement upon not having many hopes and desires, stretching far into the future.

Hence, one should not postpone till the morning actions that can be performed at night, but

rather, one should hasten towards the performance of good actions. And similarly, when one

wakes in the morning he should not rely upon the evening and postpone his good actions till

then.

And his, radiAllaahu anhu, statement "Take from your health before times of sickness" is an

encouragement upon making use of ones health, and striving ones utmost during times of

good health, fearing the onset of sickness which may prevent one from good actions. And

similarly, his statement "From your life before your death" is an admonition to make use of

the days of ones life, since the one who dies has his actions cut off and his hopes lost. And

then his distress will increase no end due to his neglect and previous lack of remorse. So let

us know that a time will come when we will spend a great length of time under the dirt,

unable to perform any action and unable to remember Allaah 'azza wa jall. So upon us is to

hasten to good actions while we are still capable of doing so. And thus, what is more

comprehensive and honourable than this hadeeth in its meanings of good ?

And some of the 'ulamaa have said that Allaah ta'aalaa has condemned having high hopes,

as He has said :

"Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be

preoccupied with (false) hope. They will come to

know!" [Soorah al-Hijr, 3].

And 'Alee radiAllaahu anhu said :

"The Dunyaa has set out from the rear, while the Aakhirah has set out from the front,

and for each of them are its sons : so be from amongst the sons of the Aakhirah, and

do not be from amongst the sons of the Dunyaa. For verily, today is the time for deeds

without any accounting, while tomorrow is the time for accounting without any

deeds."

And Anas radiAllaahu anhu said : "The Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam drew some

lines [in the sand], and said 'This [line] is Man, and this is his hope, and [the third line,

between them] is his appointed time for death. So while he is in this state the closer line

takes him'", and that is his appointed hour of death, which contains and constrains his life.

So this is a warning to him to lower his hopes, and to expect his appointed time to be near,

and to always remain in fear that it may come while he is in a state of heedlessness and

indulgence. So the Believer should accustom his soul to seeking those things which will

remind him of his death, and he should strive against his desires and never-ending hopes, for

verily Man is created with a disposition towards hope. 'Abdullaah bin 'Umar (radiAllaahu

anhumaa) said : "The Messenger of Allaah, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, saw me while I

was strengthening with clay a shelter for my mother and myself, so he said 'What is this, O

'Abdullaah ?' So I replied : 'O Messenger of Allaah, it [the shelter] has become weak, and so

we are repairing it'. So he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said 'I do not see The Affair [ie

Death or the Resurrection] except that it is closer than that [ie the falling apart of the

shelter]'."

We ask Allaah the Glorious to show kindness to us and to help us abstain from the dunyaa,

and to make us desire that which is with Him and ease on the Day of Resurrection, for verily

He is the Generous, the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Summary :

That one can hold another's shoulder to say something to him

That one should not seek name and fame in this world

That one should not seek permanence in this world

That a Muslim must always be aware of death

That a Muslim should know that he may not live to see the night or the next day,

thus making him more careful of his actions since he may not have time to repent

That a Muslim should take advantage of his health to do good deeds

That a Muslim knows that he has only this life to either make it to eternal happiness

or eternal punishment

Hadeeth 41: The Sign of Faith

On the authority of Abu Muhammad 'Abdullaah bin 'Amr bin al-'Aas (radiAllaahu

'anhumaa) who said : The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

None of you [truly] believes until his desires are subserviant to that which I have

brought.

[Imaam an-Nawawi says:] We have related it in Kitaab al-Hujjah with a Saheeh chain of

narrators.


This hadeeth is similar to His - subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa - statement

"But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith

[Eemaan] until they make you (O Muhammad,

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) judge in all disputes

between them" [Soorah an-Nisaa', 65].

The reason for the revelation of this aayah, as related by al-Bukhaaree (2359-2360), was as

follows :

Az-Zubair (radiAllaahu anhu) had a quarrel with a man from amongst the Ansaar over the

use of water from a stream, so they both went to the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu

alayhi wa sallam) for judgement between them. So he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said

: "O Zubair, irrigate your land and then let the water flow to [the land of] your

neighbour." Through this, he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) encouraged az-Zubair to pardon

his neighbour and to make affairs easy for him. However, the Ansaaree then said : "[You

have judged in his favour] because he is the son of your uncle". So the colour of the face of

the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) changed [from anger], and he said

: "O Zubair, hold back the water [in your land] until it rises to the level of the stems [of the

trees], and then let it flow [to your neighbours land]". And by this the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) indicated to az-Zubair the means by which the Ansaaree

could be corrected from his error [of not submitting to the judgement of the Prophet,

sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam].

So when the Ansaaree offended and angered the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) with

what he said, he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) granted for az-Zubair the whole of his right

that was due to him, without any concession for the Ansaaree.

And it has been authenticated from the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) in another

hadeeth that he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "By the One in Whose Hand is my

soul, none of you believes until I am more beloved to him than his father or child or the

whole of mankind". Abu az-Zinaad said that this is from the Comprehensive Speech of the

Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), as he has combined in these few, simple words great

meaning and import. This is so since the types of Love are three : the Love which arises

from a feeling of respect and greatness, such as the Love of ones parents; the Love which

arises from compassion and mercy, such as the Love of ones child; and the Love which

arises from seeing in another [person] traits which are similar to ones own, such as the Love

of the whole of mankind in general. Thus all the types of Love have been enumerated [by

the Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, in this hadeeth].

Ibn Buttaal (rahimahu Allaah) said that the meaning of the hadeeth, and Allaah knows best,

is that whosoever perfects and completes his Faith (Eemaan) knows that Allaah 'azza wa jall

has delivered him from the Fire through the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam), and

through the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) was he guided away from

Misguidance and Error.

And the import of the hadeeth is that one must not surrender ones soul to [any person] other

than the Messenger (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam). And the Companions (radiAllaahu

anhum) used to be alongside the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) in fighting their

own fathers and sons and brothers [who were polytheists], and Abu 'Ubaydah (radiAllaahu

anhu) killed his own father due to his harming the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam). And on the Day of Badr, Abu Bakr (radiAllaahu anhu) faced his own son, 'Abd-

ur-Rahmaan, in the hope that he would be able to overcome him and kill him. So whosoever

finds similar to this in his self then he can be assured that his desires are subserviant to that

which the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) brought.


Summary :

That a person is not a Muslim unless he accepts what is in the Qur'aan and Sunnah

without grudge and resistance. "But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith

[Eemaan] until they make you (O Muhammad, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) judge

in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your

decisions, and accept (them) with full submission" [Soorah Nisaa', 65]

That we must train our hearts and minds to willingly submit to the teachings of the

Qur'aan and Sunnah

That all our Laws, regulations, principles, values, norms, outlooks, etc, come from

what has been revealed

Hadeeth 42 : The Expanse of the Forgiveness of Allaah

The Most High

On the authority of Anas (radiAllaahu anhu) who said : I heard the Messenger of Allaah

(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) say :

Allaah the Almighty has said : O Son of Aadam, as long as you invoke Me and ask of

Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O Son of

Aadam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and you then asked forgiveness

from Me, I would forgive you. O Son of Aadam, were you to come to Me with sins

nearly as great as the Earth, and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me,

I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it [too].

It was related by at-Tirmidhee, who said that it was a Hasan hadeeth.


In this hadeeth are immense good tidings, clemency and great generosity, and what cannot

be enumerated of the types of Grace and Beneficence, Compassion and Mercy and what

demands Gratitude. And similar to it is his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: "Allaah

is more Joyous by the repentance of His slave, than the joy of one of you when he finds his

lost camel [in the desert]".

From Abu Ayyoob (radiAllaahu anhu), when he was on his death-bed, that he said:

"Until now I have hidden from you something that I heard from the Messenger of

Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam). I heard him say: 'If you did not commit sins

then Allaah would create a new Creation who would then commit sins [and repent], so

He would forgive them'".

And there are many other narrations which are in agreement with the meaning of this

hadeeth.

As for His, 'azza wa jall, statement: "O Son of Aadam, as long as you invoke Me and ask of

Me" then this is in agreement with His statement: "I [treat My Slave] in accordance to what

he supposes of Me, so let him deem of Me whatever he wishes". And it has been narrated

that when a Slave commits a sin and then feels remorse, and says "O My Lord! I have

committed a sin, so forgive me, for surely none can forgive sins except you!"; so Allaah

ta'aalaa says "My slave knows that he has a Lord, Who forgives sins and [also] punishes for

them. So I testify to you that I have forgiven him". Then [the slave] does the same a second

time, and a third, and so Allaah 'azza wa jall replies the same way each time. Then after that

He says: "Do as you please, for I have forgiven you!", meaning when he commits a sin and

then repents for it.

Know, that for the acceptance of Repentance there are three conditions:

1. cessation from the sin,

2. remorse for what has preceeded,

3. and firm resolve not to return to performing the sin.

And if the sin involved taking the right of another person, then he must hasten to return his

right and absolve himself from this transgression. And if the sin was between him and

Allaah ta'aalaa, and a kaffaarah (expiation) is required for this sin, then it is also necessary

that he fulfills this kaffaarah, and thus this becomes the fourth condition [for the acceptance

of repentance]. And so, even if a person were to commit a sin many times in a single day,

and then repent each time with its conditions, Allaah ta'aalaa would still forgive him.

And His, subhaanahu, statement: "for what you have done" implies that Allaah will forgive

despite the repetition of the sin.

And His, subhaanahu, statement: "O Son of Aadam, were your sins to reach the clouds of

the sky and you then asked forgiveness from Me, I would forgive you" means that if these

sins had a physical form then they would fill the space between the sky and the earth - and

this is the limit of multitude. However, even then His Generosity, Clemency, and

Forgiveness are still more and greater than that, and there can not even be the thought of

comparison between them. So the sins of the creation are wiped away by His Clemency and

Forgiveness.

And His, subhaanahu, statement: "and were you then to face Me" means that if the slave

were to die upon Eemaan, without associating any partners with Allaah. And there can be no

solace or contentment for the Believer until he has faced His Lord. And Allaah ta'aalaa has

said:

"Verily Allaah does not forgive that partners be

asscociated with Him [in Worship], but He forgives

[all sins] other than that for whomsoever He pleases"

[Soorah an-Nisaa', 48].

And Abu Hurayrah (radiAllaahu anhu) said that the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi

wa sallam) said:

"Having good supposition of Allaah is from the best Worship of Allaah".


Summary :

That the door of repentance is ever open to a person

That Allaah forgives no matter how much we sin, as long as we truly repent

That asscociating partners with Allaah (shirk) is a sin which He does not forgive

That if we seek to live a life upholding Tawheed, then we have great hope that He

will turn to us in Mercy

************************************************************************

www.absolutelypureislam.blogspot.com

http://www.absolutelypureislam.blogspot.com/

Explanation of Nawawi's Forty Hadith

Documents

Transcript of Explanation of Nawawi's Forty Hadith